The National Park Service on Thursday announced technical assistance to four recreational projects in Northeast Ohio.
The projects eligible for assistance from the park service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program are:
• A 100-mile water trail along the Cuyahoga River in Summit, Portage, Cuyahoga and Geauga counties. That project is being promoted by the Akron-based Friends of the Crooked River, a grass-roots group devoted to the Cuyahoga River.
• A plan to link Wadsworth parks and schools in collaboration with Friends of Wadsworth Trails, a grass-roots group in Medina County.
• Working with Cleveland Metroparks to develop an enhanced Centennial Trail Plan for the park district in Cuyahoga and Medina counties.
• Working with the Buckeye Trail Association to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of trail maintenance by volunteers along the 1,444-mile trail that circles much of Ohio.
The four projects are among seven Ohio projects selected to be part of the “America’s Great Outdoors” initiative that were announced by Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar.
Nationally, 200 projects were selected for the federal program.
Inclusion in the federal program does not provide any grant money but does offer the technical assistance and the expertise of the park service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program, park service spokeswoman Kathy Kupper said.
That program has an office in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park between Akron and Cleveland that is staffed by trail planners Andrea Irland and Rory Robinson. They will get involved with the seven Ohio projects.
The federal initiative is designed to boost trail building and promote recreational facilities.