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Our partners have generated a lot of buzz, check out these news stories

 

Cyclists, joggers, and families out on a rail trail.

  

Congratulations to the newest Walk-Friendly communities. 

Events 

Check out upcoming events by visiting our calendar.

  

June 2 is National Trails Day, find or host an event near you 

Findings

Take a look at this webinar introducing Health Impact Assessments.

 

Check out this in-depth piece on biking to school.

Tools

Google Reader makes a nifty news aggregator

Trail of the Month

Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is our trail of the month.

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Conservation + Recreation:

May, 2012

May is Fitness Month

Happy Physical Fitness Month! We, here at Conservation + Recreation, are really excited about the nation wide conversation taking place about the value of having daily access to health and fitness spaces in your local community. We invite you to our Facebook page to share pictures and stories about the places you go on a daily basis for physical activity. We know that Mom would approve a walk in the park this Mother's Day, so take a picture with her.

 

May is also National Bike Month, with May 18th being National Bike to Work day! There are a ton of great local events going on. In Washington DC, the Washington Area Bicycling Association has places for riders to meet up and connect with other local riders. Is your community hosting a ride or has it been named a Bike-Friendly Community? We would love to hear about how bikes are a part of your community or your commute. Please feel free to share a photo and tell us about it.

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Keep Your Inbox Fit with News Alerts

As we see so many good examples of keeping the body fit - it's also important to keep your inbox fit. This month's tool is "news alerts," which keep track of news stories about your organization by consolidating search engine findings and emailing them to you. Google News alerts are a very handy tool - and you don't need a Google account to set them up. Simply conduct a Google News search, and at the bottom of the first page, click the hyperlink to create a news alert. You don't have to use Google, Bing also has a news alert feature, it works similarly if you sign into their website. 

 

Be sure to pay attention to those settings! Your inbox will never be empty if you use the "as-it-happens" setting. The best way to keep the inbox clean is to get a daily or weekly digest version of your news alert. That way, you still get the most up-to-date news, but your inbox is much more manageable. It makes a big difference to see the week's news on Monday, rather than have 15 emails from the weekend clogging up the works.

 

As always, it's a best practice to check in with Google's terms of service or Microsoft's terms of service before you dive in.

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A Tip of the Hat to...

Susan Starbird
Petaluma Water Ways
Petaluma, California

Passion, professional talent, and a zest for community are three elements that make Susan Starbird a standout volunteer. Susan is the lead coordinator for Petaluma Water Ways and over the past two years, has contributed nearly 1000 hours of time and talent to raise awareness, engage in outreach, and beckon people to the river, to enjoy, steward, and build connections.

 

Over the past two years Susan supported a team of a dozen partners to create Petaluma Water Ways. The blueprint showcases 34 projects and paints a picture of just what is needed along Petaluma's riverfront: it coaxes and empowers funders and community interests to jump in and lead to create improved access and an inviting riverfront.

 

Susan's work spread through the community with presentations to dozens of community organizations, small business, and volunteers. This investment yielded the Voice of the River, a collection of community contributed stories, poems, and art that reflects what people value most about the Petaluma River. Susan's energy also led to connections with Rebuilding Together, the Kiwanis, and the Rotary that has led to improved pocket parks downtown along the river with promises of more to come. 

 

Susan's contributions have been exemplary, laying the groundwork for ongoing progress to create a visible and recognized close to home blue way - a place for recreation and relaxation for avid and just beginning boaters, walkers, and wildlife enthusiasts. We extend a boatload of gratitude to helmswoman Susan Starbird.

Let's Work Together

Could your project benefit from collaboration with a National Park Service specialist?
 
If you're 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.
 
 
Call or email your regional representative today.

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Conservation + Recreation
is written to support and inform our organizational partners, friends of the program, potential partners, and Department of the Interior staff. It's our chance to share activities and successes and those of our partners. For details on specific projects, please contact the staff person involved with each project.

Images courtesy National Park Service except as noted.