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NPS Photo, Olympic National Park
Contact: Barb Maynes, 360-565-3005 Contact: Alanna Sobel, National Park Foundation, 202-796-2538 Olympic National Park, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula &NatureBridge Receive Active Trails Grant from the National Park Foundation WASHINGTON (June 29, 2015) –Olympic National Park is one of 37 national parks selected to receive a 2015 Active Trails grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks. Now in its seventh year, the Active Trails program supports healthy living by getting people out and active in national parks through projects that help restore, protect, and/or create land and water trails across the country. Thanks to this grant, Olympic National Park will offer a series of weekly adventures for boys and girls attending summer programs at the Carroll C. Kendall and Mount Angeles Units of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula. Over the course of the summer, rangers will lead boys and girls to different areas of the park to experience an "Adventure in Your Big Backyard". Participants will hike to Hurricane Hill, canoe with NatureBridge on Lake Crescent, swim in the hot pools at Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, explore the wild Pacific coast at Rialto, and participate in other active adventures. The grant award totaled nearly $17,500 and was distributed among project partners Olympic National Park, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and NatureBridge. "We are excited to partner with the Boys and Girls Clubs and NatureBridge to offer exciting adventures for our local youth." Sarah Creachbaum, Olympic National Park Superintendent said recently. "This partnership is founded on a shared desire to strengthen youth and to help develop the next generation of citizens who support their communities and their parks." Since 2008, the National Park Foundation has granted more than $2.8 million through its Active Trails program. As of 2014, Active Trails has engaged more than 11,000 volunteers and 579 project partners who combined have contributed more than 60,000 hours to help promote, refurbish or build national park trails. "Through our Active Trails program, people are discovering that parks are great places to have fun, give back, and exercise," said Susan Newton, senior vice president of grants &programs at the National Park Foundation. "As we move into the second century of the National Park Service and look to connect all people to America's treasured places through our Find Your Park movement, programs like Active Trails are engaging people across the country and helping them find their own unique connections to parks." "Trails are literal pathways to better health," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "These National Park Foundation grants will help protect, restore, and create trails in national parks, both urban and rural, that are essential to our physical and mental health as places of recreation, inspiration, and reflection." The entire list of the 2015 Active Trails recipients can be found here. The National Park Foundation wishes to thank The Coca-Cola Company and Subaru of America for their generous support of the Active Trails program. /// ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov. ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America's national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help PROTECT more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts, CONNECT all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history, and INSPIRE the next generation of park stewards. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org |
Last updated: June 30, 2015