Healthy Parks Healthy People US

The Modern-Day Mather Hike: A microgrant opportunity to engage Park and health leaders through inspired hikes in America’s National Parks

Background: Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service (NPS),
was a visionary and early advocate for the preservation and conservation movements.
Starting in 1915, the year before the NPS was created, Mather hosted numerous
backcountry trips in current-day national parks (e.g. Sequoia, Yosemite) for politicians,
businessmen, journalists, and other opinion makers.1 These hikes were critical for
inspiring influential leaders and congressmen, generating support and funding for the
NPS, and for promulgating Mather’s vision to the American public.

Healthy Parks Healthy People US: Many parks (national, state, and local) were
initially created, not only to preserve landscapes, but also to promote health.2 In
September 2010, Director Jon Jarvis established the NPS Health Promotion Initiative to
rejuvenate and raise awareness for the role of public lands in improving the health of our
nation. National parks are model settings to promote physical activity, healthy eating,
and mental health, while also demonstrating how human health is interdependent on the
health of all species and our environment.3 To inform this initiative, the NPS hosted the
Healthy Parks Healthy People (HPHP) US summit on April 5-6, 2011 with 90 invited
stakeholders from diverse backgrounds.

Winning projects

Southeast Region
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area—Howard Duncan

Midwest Region
Cuyahoga Valley National Park—Stan Austin and Brady Bourquin
Hot Springs National Park—Josie Fernandez, Mardi Arce, and Mike Kusch
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield—Joe Way

Intermountain Region
Curecanti National Recreation Area—Sandra Snell-Dobert
Grand Canyon National Park—Lori Rome and AJ Lapre
Petroglyph National Monument—Diane Souder

Pacific West Region
Death Valley National Park—Jay Snow and Stephanie Kyriazis
Olympic National Park—Jeanette and Paul Stehr-Green
Point Reyes National Seashore—John Dell’Osso