Date: May 17, 2012
Antietam National Battlefieldhas been selected to receive a 2012 Active Trails grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks.Now in its fourth cycle, the National Park Foundation's Active Trails program promotes national parks as venues for community engagement, and encourages healthy living through various forms of recreation and volunteer service on land and water trails.
"Maintaining over 18,000 miles of trails is no small task," said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. "The Active Trail funds help parks across the country create or expand vital trail related projects, improving the visitor experience and encouraging engagement opportunities with each parks' gateway community."
Since 2008, the National Park Foundation has granted over $1.2 million through its Active Trails program. To date, Active Trails has engaged more than 3,100 volunteers and 86 project partners who combined have contributed over 13,000 hours to help promote, refurbish or build national park trails that were ultimately enjoyed by 291,000 visitors (and counting!).
As part of the Active Trails program, Antietam will be refurbishing the Rohrbach group campground and increasing visitor accessibility to the area.With over 5700 registered campground users each year, the campground, its facilities, and adjacent hiking trail are in dire need of restoration.Antietam will be working with volunteer youth groups and non-profit organizations to complete all restoration work, including the rehabilitation of the Boy Scouts of AmericaHistoric Trail, which runs from the campground and throughout the park.
In addition to Antietam, the 2012 Active Trails grantees include:
Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi District, Florida
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Alaska
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
New River Gorge National River, West Virginia
River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Michigan
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan
A listing of these parks and their Active Trails project descriptions can be found on the National Park Foundation website (www.nationalparks.org/our-work/programs/active-trails).
The National Park Foundation and Antietam National Battlefieldwish to thank the Coca-Cola Foundation for their generous support of the Active Trails program.
For more information on the National Park Foundation or how you can support and protect America's national parks, please visit www.nationalparks.org.
About the National Park Foundation. You are the owner of 84 million acres of the world's most treasured memorials, landscapes, ecosystems, and historic sites -- all protected in America's nearly 400 national parks. Chartered by Congress, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks. We work hand in hand with the National Park Service to connect you and all Americans to the parks, and to make sure that they are preserved for the generations who will follow. Join us in supporting your national parks -- this is your land. www.nationalparks.org
Media contact:
Andrew Landsman; Andrew_Landsman@nps.gov; 301-432-2243
Marjorie Hall; mhall@nationalparks.org; 202-354-6480
