Trail Planning

Share your thoughts at April trail workshops

This April, the National Park Service (NPS) in coordination with local partners will host a series of workshops to present alternative concepts for how the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail and Scenic Byway could develop over the next twenty years.

Please join us for a presentation on three distinct proposals for developing and managing the trail, and give us your input on which of the three, or a combination, could provide the most appropriate development direction for the trail over the next twenty years. Your involvement is essential to shaping a trail and byway that successfully commemorate the nationally significant summer 1814 Chesapeake Campaign while providing opportunities for learning, recreation, tourism, and resource protection.

Public meetings will be held: 

Monday, April 18, 2011: 4 to 6 pm, Bladensburg Waterfront Park, Bladensburg, MD

Tuesday, April 19, 2011: 4 to 6 pm, Havre de Grace Maritime Museum, Havre de Grace, MD

Wednesday, April 20, 2011: 4 to 6 pm, Creative Alliance @ The Patterson, Baltimore, MD

Thursday, April 21, 2011: 6 to 8 pm, King's Landing Park, Huntingtown, MD

Webinar for Virginia Stakeholders: Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 10 to 11.30 am, email to RSVP.

You may also send comments of the internet to http://parkplanning.nps.gov/stsp_alts. We look forward to hearing from you!

Click here to read our workshop newsletter and contribute your thoughts on what is important about the trail and how it should develop.

More about Trail Planning

In 2009, the National Park Service, in coordination with public and private partners began the development of an Interpretive Plan (IP) and a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).

The purpose of the IP is to define and clarify the trail's primary interpretive themes and desired visitor experience. The IP also establishes a framework for the implementation for such things as exhibits, audiovisual programs, waysides, publications  and partnership activities that will occur on the trail in the future.

The purpose of the CMP is to establish goals, priorities, and management objectives that meet the purposes of the Trail as articulated in the National Trails System Act.

Both plans help the NPS and its partners articulate the goals and priorities of the Trail, from the preservation and development of special places, views, and land and water routes, to the interpretation of stories about the people, places and ideals that make War of 1812 history relevant to our lives today.

Input from trail partners and the public is an important part of the planning process to capture a full range of ideas, opportunities and concerns and to ensure that the plan addresses as many opportunities and constraints affecting trail development as possible. For example, the National Park Service will seek input on what kinds of activities and experiences the Trail should offer and what kinds of development and preservation are most important. Such information helps the NPS identify trail priorities that partners can support and realistically help implement.

Please contact us to subscribe to our quarterly e-newsletter and recieve periodic updates about the planning process.