The Pineland Preservation Alliance (PPA), the New Jersey Division of Disability Services of the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DDS), the Edward J. Bloustein School, and Duke Farms have come together to lead a statewide effort to make recreating in nature a part of the lives of everyone in our state regardless of disability. The inspiration for this came from The Pinelands is for Everyone project, which has evolved into the new statewide Nature: Accessible for All initiative that brings in new activists and partners to the cause. PPA received critical funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to facilitate this campaign.
Supporting the Outdoors for All Act and Bridging the Park Equity Gap
Shared green space is an essential part of healthy, resilient, and connected communities, yet 1 in 3 Americans do not live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Often, the country’s poorest neighborhoods have the fewest parks. Trust for Public Land and the Appalachian Mountain Club believe everyone deserves quality outdoor space and are committed to ensuring park access for every ZIP code.
The National Park Service’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant program (ORLP) is an important tool for bridging this park equity gap. Established in 2014, ORLP is funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) as a nationally competitive grant program available to municipalities of 30,000 or more residents.
Tacony Creek Park Map Available in Seven Languages
Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF) is proud to announce that maps for Tacony Creek Park, the city’s 300-acre watershed park that was created in 1915 to protect Tacony Creek, are now available in seven languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Haitian Creole, Arabic, and Khmer. These are the languages spoken the most by residents living in the neighborhoods surrounding the park.