Improving the Sustainability of the Appalachian Trail: Trail and Recreation Site Conditions and Management (Marion J. et al., 2020)
Type of Publication
Research Report
Where to Find?
http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.36715.26402
Abstract or Summary
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) is a unique internationally recognized protected natural area encompassing more than 250,000 acres and a 2,190-mile footpath from Maine to Georgia. A.T. management responsibilities are shared through a unique collaborative partnership between the National Park Service’s Appalachian Trail Park Office (ATPO), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), federal, state, and local land managers, and 31 volunteer trail clubs. The diverse array of latitude, elevation, and moisture gradients traversed by the A.T. contributes to a rich biological assemblage of flora and fauna, while also accommodating opportunities for more than three million visitors/year. The A.T. attracts local, regional, national, and international visitors, supporting day hikes, weekend backpacking and camping trips, section-hikes, and thru-hikes of the entire trail in a single year. (first paragraph of the executive summary)
The National Park Service Act (1916) provides a mandate to the National Park Service ""to promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations...by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."" This guidance provides park managers with a ""dual mandate,"" directing them to: 1) make parks available for public visitation and enjoyment, and 2) preserve the natural and cultural resources within parks. This challenge becomes increasingly difficult as more people visit parks.
Relevance
Trail sustainability and maintenance, site management, site and trail conditions
Bibliographical Data
- Authors: Jefferey L. Marion and Jeremy Wimpey and Johanna Arredondo and Fletcher Meademe
- Title: Improving the Sustainability of the Appalachian Trail: Trail and Recreation Site Conditions and Management
- Year: 2020
- Publisher: DOI National Park Service and Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Virginia Tech, College of Natural Resources & Environment Department of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation
