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This
summer, Sitka National Historical Park will continue its role as
one of seven parks nationwide to pilot a program known as the "Healthy
Parks" campaign. Sitka's program, titled "Take a Walk in Your Park,"
was designed to encourage disembarking cruise ship passengers to
participate in healthful recreational activities available at the
park and in the community. Last year, visitors were contacted by
uniformed rangers near Sitka's lightering docks and informed of
opportunities to explore Sitka's trails and attractions, inside
and outside of the park. This year rangers will carry the same message
beyond the docks. The program will also include a visitor survey
to gauge the program's effectiveness. The Healthy Parks initiative
has already helped the park in one important area. Visitation numbers
are increasingly important factors in allocations of funding for
maintenance and visitor services. While the park has ways of tracking
visitation at the visitor center and Russian Bishop's House, it
has never had a reliable way to measure trail use. Last year, the
Healthy Parks initiative provided funding to install trail counters
- electronic boxes that count pedestrians as they pass, much like
the counters installed in some business doorways. Trail users may
also have noticed park staff conducting intermittent manual visitor
counts, in order to verify the reliability of the counters. The
resulting information will ensure that the intensive, year-round
use the park trails receive can be accurately factored into park
planning and visitor services. For more information please call
747-0134.
Privacy
& Disclaimer
Author:Jane
Ahern
www.nps.gov/akso
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