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The National Park Service and our partners have many roles to play as America addresses its energy, environmental, and economic challenges.  We're proud that our partnership with Groundwork USA is helping people improve their own neighborhoods -- with us helping in our areas of expertise such as building trails and restoring streams, and with other partners helping these groups plant trees, do energy conservation retrofits, fix playgrounds, and get training for environmental and green jobs. 

Piece by piece, these communities are rebuilding for a better future.   You'll find their stories below, and also a complete accomplishments
Rick Potts, Chief, Outdoor Recreation and Conservationreport at http://www.groundworkusa.net/.


-- Rick Potts, Chief 
Conservation and Outdoor Recreation 
Transforming Brownfields to Parks: Why It Matters

The idea is simple and beautiful: take polluted land and turn it into a park. But like many things, the reality is complex, says Doug Evans, a National Park Service staffer and manager of Groundwork USA Initiative.  While large-scale brownfield projects can often pay for themselves if they are turned into lucrative shopping centers or sports stadiums, advocates must often look for outside funding to pay for their transformation to parks or open space.  Other issues-including site ownership, back taxes, and who is going to own and maintain the site after cleanup-can also complicate the process.  But despite these obstacles, communities are increasingly interested in cleaning up brownfields for public use.
 
"It's about people trying to improve their neighborhoods and seeing vacant lots as potential assets," said Evans.  A major vehicle for organizing these efforts has been the nonprofit Groundwork Trusts across the country, which is being developed by the NPS, with support of the EPA. Groundwork Trusts work with communities to improve their environment, economy and quality of life, especially through environmental projects.  The value of the Groundwork Trusts, says Evans, is "having the capacity in the community to see these projects through to fruition."
 
Scarito ParkLawrence, Massachusetts: National Night Out at Scarito Park (image: Groundwork Lawrence)

Learning from the Field:
Spicket River Greenway, Lawrence, Massachusetts

 
The Spicket River runs through the poorest, densest neighborhoods of Lawrence, Massachusetts-an old mill town an hour north of Boston, still struggling to recover from the loss of factory jobs years ago. Alongside the river is a stretch of tree canopy-a "natural place of respite," says Kate O'Brien, the Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence. The ultimate goal is a three-mile greenway they've dubbed the "Emerald Bracelet." But to get there requires many steps, including the rehabilitation of a parcel known as "the old incinerator site."

Groundwork Lawrence is serving as project manager and catalyst for the transformation of the Spicket River Greenway, ensuring the initiative moves forward by doing everything from grantwriting (helping the city secure half a million dollars) to soliciting public input from neighborhood residents. "City government gets it right in terms of wanting to build capital projects and to leave a legacy of great new parks," says O'Brien, "but often it's a top-down process. Our role is to bring a grassroots mandate from the residents of the neighborhood who will be using this space."

Klamath River, CaliforniaThrough intensive public outreach-including doorknocking, phone calls, and community organizing-Groundwork Lawrence learned about residents' desire for a community garden, particularly as food prices have escalated. "We have to work hard to convince them they should spend time going to a meeting and giving their opinion," said O'Brien. "But over the years, we've been building a culture of 'Go to a meeting, give your input, and then see your input in the ground a few years later."

 Earth Day 2008     Kate at Spicket River Cleanup
Lawrence, Massachusetts:  Community Design Workshop (top left) Preparing for Earth Day (left) and Spicket River Cleanup (right) (Images: Groundwork Lawrence)

Catalysts: Getting Involved

Learn more about the work of Groundwork Lawrence and of other brownfield initiatives of the national Groundwork USA network. You can also find more information on brownfields from EPA.

Network and Learn


March 30 - April 2: National Main Streets Conference, Chicago, IL.  http://www.conference.mainstreet.org

April 2-3: Streets As Places - Project for Public Spaces, NYC. http://www.pps.org
April 19-25: National Park Week -- coming to a park near you. http://www.nps.gov/npweek/
See our conference calendar for dozens of upcoming events.

Let's Work Together

Could your project benefit from 1-2 years' staff time from a National Park Service specialist? If you're working on restoring a river, building a community trail, or making an urban park flourish, we'd love to talk with you about ways we could work together. Please call or email your regional representative today. The next program application deadline is August 1, 2009.

NPS Conservation and Recreation Links

Challenge Cost Share Program | Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers | Federal Lands to Parks

Hydropower Relicensing Program | National Trails System |  Urban Park and Recreation Recovery

Land and Water Conservation Fund | Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program

The Update informs Department of the Interior staff, organizational partners, and friends about the program successes and activities of the National Park Service Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Programs. For more details, please contact the staff person involved with each project.

This e-newsletter may be copied or redirected. Our staff would be pleased to assist your editor in adapting each story for your publication; for more information, please call (202) 354-6918 or e-mail [email protected].
Images courtesy National Park Service.