guided-bicycle-tour

For: Immediate Release

Contact: Charles E. Fenwick, 912-786-5787

Bicycle Tour – November 17, 2007

To help promote a healthy lifestyle, as well as to provide bicycle riders with a unique opportunity to see the park from a different vantage point, Fort Pulaski National Monument, in conjunction with Chatham County Parks and Recreation, is hosting a bicycle tour of the Fort as well as surrounding areas.

Park Rangers and employees from Chatham County Parks and Recreation, Oatland Island, and volunteers will lead a bicycle tour of the Rails-to-Trails, Fort Pulaski National Monument, surrounding dike system, and the lighthouse trail. This tour will interpret natural and cultural resources, and allow participants to exercise as well. The tour will begin at 8:30am in the parking lot of Fort Pulaski National Monument and conclude in the picnic area located at Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Participation is limited so please call early for reservations. Entrance fees will not be charged for participants. Participants should bring water, sunscreen and their own bicycles for this event. A National Park Service study found that people who exercise regularly spend 30% fewer days in the hospital than people who do not. Biking and hiking are also good for the health of our national parks as well. Nearly 300 million people each year from the U.S. and around the world visit our national parks.

Many come for the outdoor recreational opportunities our parks provide, including hiking, biking, fishing, and canoeing. Park visitation is expected to increase to 367 million visitors by the year 2020. Bicycle and pedestrian trails are integral parts of larger park, community and regional alternative transportation systems. These trails can improve access and mobility within parks and communities and enhance the visitor experience. The Park, the County and the City of Tybee Island are working towards the completion of the last segment of the Rail-To-Trails from the park entrance to the Lazaretto Creek.

Superintendent Fenwick, remarked "With nearly 6,000 acres that we manage, we are excited to share with our visitors some of the many recreational opportunities that abound in the park and we look forward to the day when visitors can hike or bike from the west end of the park at the Elba Island Cut to the East end of the park on Tybee Island." The National Park Service was established on August 25, 1916, to manage the nation’s unique natural and cultural treasures. The 391 units of the National Park System include a variety of areas such as parks, preserves, historic sites, monuments, seashores, long distance trails, battlefields, and recreational areas.

An important goal of the National Park System is to preserve and protect these sites, and to "leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Fort Pulaski National Monument was established October 15, 1924, by proclamation of President Calvin Coolidge. The area was turned over to the National Park Service on July 28, 1933, by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fort Pulaski National Monument is on U.S. Hwy 80, 15 miles east of Savannah.