AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS: National Park Service to Assist 200 Communities with River and Trail Projects

WASHINGTON—The National Park Service will help local communities implement more than 200 natural resource and recreational projects under the agency's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA), Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today – part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative to establish a community-based, 21st century agenda for conservation, recreation, and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors.

“One of the major goals of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative is to reconnect Americans to nature by expanding recreational opportunities,” Salazar said. “Through the RTCA program, the National Park Service will provide expertise and assistance to local communities that are building trails and undertaking other conservation and recreation projects."

Under the RTCA program, the National Park Service helps communities and neighborhoods to preserve valuable open spaces, revitalize nearby rivers, and develop trail and greenway networks. This year's projects were selected from the most competitive field of requests ever received by the agency.

Projects are locally conceived and initiated, with RTCA staff supporting community based recreation and conservation leaders. Each year, RTCA project partnerships contribute to the construction of 1,700 miles of trail, conservation of nearly 1,000 miles of river, and protection of more than 50,000 acres of open space.

More than 20 of the projects included in the RTCA project announcement today also were highlighted in the America's Great Outdoors 50-State report released by Secretary Salazar in November. The report listed more than 100 high-priority projects representing what states believe are among the best investments in the nation to support a healthy, active population, conserve wildlife and working lands, and create travel, tourism and outdoor-recreation jobs across the country. Interior is working closely with states and local communities to advance these priority projects as quickly as possible.

To read more about our work in your state, visit:
http://www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/rtca/whatwedo/projects_by_state.html

For more information on the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, please visit http://www.nps.gov/rtca.

###