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Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program

Publications

Trail Publications:

• Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned Literature Review, Current Practices, Conclusions

  Birk, M. L. et al. (2002). Alta Planning + Design.

• Logical Lasting Launches

  National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, 2004 (available for download by chapter or as a complete document).
  This guide provides design guidance for developing canoe and kayak launches; case examples, designs, and photos are included.

• Installation guide for porous pavement panels as a trail hardening material for off-highway vehicle trails

  Meyer, K. G. (2002). Alaska: National Park Service, Alaska Support Office.

• Installation guide: Slab-plank Boardwalk utilizing Beetle-killed Spruce as a trail hardening material for off-highway vehicle trails on the lower Kenai Penisnsula, Alaska

  Meyer, K. G. Anchorage, Alaska: National Park Service, Rivers and Trails Program

• Managing degraded off-highway vehicle trails in wet, unstable, and sensitive environments

  Meyer, K. G. (2002). Missoula, MT, USDA Forest Service Technology & Development Program, Federal Highway Administration, & National Park Service.

• Impacts of Rail-Trails: A Study of User and Property Owners from Three Trails,Part 2,Part 3,Part 4,Part 5

  Moore, R., Graffe A. R., Gitleson R. J. (1992). National Park Service and Penn State University.

• Recreational Use Statutes and the Private Landowner

  National Park Service, American Association for Horsemanship Safety, American Whitewater, Equestrian Land Conservation Resource and International Mountain Bicycling Association, 2002.
  This .pdf contains printable files for the fifty states that have a Recreational Limited Liability Law.

• Trails for All Americans

  Submitted by American Trails to the National Park Service, 1990.
  A national trails agenda formed by a private-public task force. Some recommendations are now dated, but the basic vision of integrated trails systems available to all, health benefits, interagency collaboration, protected resource corridors, and trails as infrastructure is still valid today.

• Trails for the Twenty-First Century, 2nd ed.

  Charles A. Flink, Kristine Olka and Robert M. Searns, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
  Planning, design, and management manual for multi-use trails.

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River Publications:

• Case Studies of Water Trail Impacts on Rural Communities

  Lindsy Johnson, MCRP, for National Park Service, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, 2002.
  A comparative analysis of rural communities with calm water trails. Case studies illustrate impacts of calm water trails and trends are drawn from community ecomonic development associated with water trails.

• Creek Care Guide

  National Park Service, Friends of Alhambra Creek, and the City of Martinez (CA), 1994.
  Offers practical information on proper creek care and how to solve existing problems in degraded creeks.

• Dam Removal and Historic Preservation: Reconciling Dual Objectives

  American Rivers in partnership with National Park Service, August 2008.
  This report provides guidance to help dam removal and historic preservation advocates collaborate effectively.

• Daylighting and Restoring Streams in Rural Community City Centers

  National Park Service, June 2002, rev. 2005.
  This report provides case studies of five river restoration/daylighting projects used to revitalize small communities across America. It is a companion to the 'Giving New Life to Streams' Brochure (see below) and provides a substantial reference and contact section.

• Economic Benefits of Conserved Rivers: An Annotated Bibliography

  National Park Service, June 2001
  An effort to document, enhance, and share knowledge of the economic benefits of conserved rivers. It offers an extensive list of studies, papers, and articles on this subject, with summaries of their content.

• Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers, Trails and Greenway Cooridors

  National Park Service, 4th edition, 1995
  Shows how parks benefit the local economy by creating jobs, enhancing property values, attracting businesses and increasing local tax revenues.

• Floods, Floodplains and Folks (19 MB)

  National Park Service, 1996.
  A casebook in managing rivers for multiple uses. Case studies of multiple-objective approaches to river planning and flood loss reduction.

• Flows and Recreation: A Guide to Studies for River Professionals

  Doug Whittaker, Bo Shelby, and John Gangemi, for the Hydropower Reform Coalition and National Park Service - Hydropower Recreation Assistance, 2005
  This guide is intended to facilitate decision-making to define flows for recreation on regulated rivers. It provides an updated framework and methodologies for assessing flows for recreational use.

• Giving New Life to Streams in Rural City Centers

  National Park Service
  An educational brochure developed in partnership with the city of Caldwell, Idaho. The publication profiles several small communities that opened and restored streams that had been buried for decades under their downtown streets.

• Alaska Rivers Inventory

  National Park Service
  A register of over 3,000 rivers that potentially qualify as national wild, scenic or recreational rivers.

• Restoring Streams to Reduce Flood Loss (pdf file)

  National Park Service and Trout Unlimited, 1998
  Describes how flood control work causes more problems than it solves and how natural streams and floodplains work to reduce flood damage.

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Conservation Publications:

• Groundswell - Stories of Saving Places, Finding Community

  Alix W. Hopkins; Published by the Trust for Public Land; Co-sponsors: The Conservation Fund, The National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, and The Nature Conservancy, 2005.
  With more than 150 color photos, maps, FAQs and other resources, Groundswell serves as a Call to Action and a useful guide for people with the passion and energy to make a difference in their community. It highlights several RTCA project examples.

• How Greenways Work: A Handbook on Ecology

  National Park Service and QLF/Atlantic Center for the Environment, 1992.
  Jonathan Labaree. Full text and illustrations of QLF's 1992 handbook, published with the National Park Service, that describes how to design and manage greenways to fulfill ecological functions in the landscape.

• Key Components of Creating A Volunteer Program

  Developed for the American Hiking Society by Mayes Wilson & Associates, LLC, 2006.
  An informative manual that provides step-by-step instructions on how to plan and implement a successful volunteer program.

• Protecting Open Space: Tools and Techniques

  National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assitance Program, 2004
  Describes eleven techniques that are commonly employed for conserving open space in Texas and how and where they might be effectively applied, including case studies.

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