Posts written by PNTS Communications
Gary Werner retiring, PNTS seeks next Executive Director
by Liz Bergeron, Chair, PNTS Executive Transition Taskforce Gary Werner has announced that he will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS) and retiring from full-time work early in 2020. Werner, who has served as PNTS Executive Director…
PNTS and Trust for Public Land initiate Gap Analysis
by Don Owen, Consultant, Partnership for the National Trails System Fifty years after the passage of the National Trails System Act, many critically important landscapes and resources of the National Trails System lack any permanent protection. Thanks to a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration,…
NTS Webmapping Application: A foundation for National Trails System Geographic Information Systems
By: Peter Bonsall, Geographer – GIS Specialist, and Matt Robinson, GIS Specialist, National Park Service and Appalachian National Scenic Trail, respectively A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful tool that allows users to view a variety of geographic data, perform spatial analysis, and conduct locational…
Trail Apprentice Spotlight: Lauren Murray
By: Partnership for the National Trails System, adapted from former Trail Apprentice submissions It’s been 10 years since the Partnership for the National Trails System first offered Trail Apprentice (TA) scholarships, funded by multiple Federal agencies, to young adults. We caught up with some members…
The future of the National Trails System faces fundamental challenges
By Gary Werner, Executive Director, Partnership for the National Trails System In 2018 as we began our year-long commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the National Trails System Act, I briefly described these fundamental challenges that we in the National Trails System community face to fully…
Spring 2019
Contents EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Creating a national public lands system for our trails BOARD PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE HIKE THE HILL PNTS/AHS experience trails victory while in D.C. GOLD SHEET 2018 volunteer and financial contributions BOOKS “West Like Lightning” by Jim DeFelice “Rider on the Pony Express”…
Adventures from ‘Get Off the Web and Into the Wild’
During National Park Week, April 20-28, 2019, the Partnership for the National Trails System encouraged people to take a break from social media and explore the outdoors instead. Those who joined PNTS in the pledge to “get off the web and into the wild” substituted…
FHWA and BLM Trail Resources
RECREATIONAL TRAILS REPORT The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently published the 2019 Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Annual Report. The RTP provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized recreational trail uses. This annual report…
Nathan Caldwell retires from FWS
By: Partnership for the National Trails System, Adapted from partner emails Nathan Caldwell, Transportation Program Analyst with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), retired from Federal service on December 31, 2018. He also served as the FWS representative on the Federal Interagency Council on Trails…
LWCF permanently reauthorized: Federal program is critical for protecting special places along national trails
By: Gary Werner, Executive Director, Partnership for the National Trails System In February, the 116th Congress passed S.47—the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act—the largest public lands bill since 2009. This omnibus public lands bill includes permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water…