NPS unveils Call to Action which significantly changes the state grants program
August 25, 2011 ( From Federal Recreation Report )
NPS Director John Jarvis and his top aides August 25 introduced the Call to Action at an employee town hall meeting at Ford’s Theater National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. The report is available at http://www.nps.gov/calltoaction/.
The 36 recommendations include everything from more healthful eating to greater diversity in the workforce. Many track the recommendations of an America’s Great Outdoors initiative (AGO), President Obama’s signature outdoor recreation program.
For instance the AGO report calls for a shake-up of the state side program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The Call to Action follows suit by recommending that the 60 percent of state grant money now allocated on the basis of population be awarded competitively. “This action would convert the 60 percent allocation to a national, competitive grants program focused on three recreation priorities: urban parks, waterways, and large landscape conservation,” says the Call to Action.
More broadly the report recommends protection of five large landscapes. Again, the report emphasizes partnerships. But it does not rule out the use of some federal money. “To achieve this goal we will protect continuous corridors in five geographic regions through voluntary partnerships across public and private lands, and by targeting a portion of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund to make strategic land acquisitions within national parks,” says the report.
The report does not identify the corridors except for a Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor that stretches from Worcester, Mass., to Providence, R.I.
