{"id":242880619,"date":"2012-09-12T02:50:19","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T02:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=242880619"},"modified":"2012-09-12T02:50:19","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T02:50:19","slug":"funding-for-trails-in-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=242880619","title":{"rendered":"Funding for Trails in Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>[B&#8217; Spokes: I ran across this while researching the previous article and it&#8217;s cool enough to share.]<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>The Recreational Trails Program (RTP)<\/h3>\n<p>The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) provides funds to the States to develop<br \/>\nand maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both<br \/>\nnon-motorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The RTP is an assistance<br \/>\nprogram of the Department of Transportation&#8217;s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).<br \/>\nFederal transportation funds benefit recreation including hiking, bicycling,<br \/>\nin-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road<br \/>\nmotorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four-wheel driving, or using other<br \/>\noff-road motorized vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland received $1,158,618 in RTP funds in 2010, and $5,622,664 over the<br \/>\ncourse of the last five years.<\/p>\n<p>In the fall of 2010, Governor Martin O\u2019Malley announced the results<br \/>\nof the first-ever comprehensive Maryland State Parks Economic Impact and<br \/>\nVisitors Study at a meeting with stakeholders at New Germany State Park.<br \/>\nAccording to the study, <b>Maryland State Parks have an estimated annual economic<br \/>\nbenefit to local economies and the State of more than $650 million annually.<\/b><em>[Emphasis mine]<\/em> <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Each year, a network of 66 Maryland State Parks welcomes nearly 10<br \/>\n\tmillion day visitors and 1 million visitors who stay overnight in<br \/>\n\tcampgrounds and cabins. <\/li>\n<li>Maryland State Park visitors directly spend more than $567 million<br \/>\n\tduring their trips to State Parks, producing a total economic impact of more<br \/>\n\tthan $650 million annually.<\/li>\n<li>State park visitor spending supported more than 10,000 full-time jobs<br \/>\n\tand generated more than $39 million in state and local retail, gasoline,<br \/>\n\thotel, and income taxes.<\/li>\n<li>70 percent of spending and employment impacts are concentrated within 20<br \/>\n\tminutes of State Parks in local, &#8220;gateway communities,&#8221; often in rural<br \/>\n\tsettings.<\/li>\n<li>49 percent of overnight visitors and 29 percent of day visitors are from<br \/>\n\tout-of-state.<\/li>\n<li>95 percent of day visitors and 94 percent of overnight visitors had<br \/>\n\texpectations met or exceeded during their trip to a Maryland State Park.<\/li>\n<li>48 percent of day visitors and 63 percent of overnight visitors come to<br \/>\n\tthe State Parks with children. One in 10 groups came with five or more kids.<\/li>\n<li>Visitors ranked hiking\/walking as the most popular activity in State<br \/>\n\tParks during the time of the survey followed by: general relaxation,<br \/>\n\tswimming, sightseeing, and picnicking\/cooking out.<\/li>\n<li>More than 90 percent of survey respondents agree or strongly agree that<br \/>\n\tMaryland State Parks offer a safe and affordable way to escape from stress,<br \/>\n\tconnect with nature, and offer a positive experience for their children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>\u201cThis report demonstrates that Maryland\u2019s network of 66 State Parks is a<br \/>\ntremendous asset to our State, providing both exciting recreational<br \/>\nopportunities to residents and visitors and significant economic benefits.\u201d said<br \/>\nGovernor O\u2019Malley. \u201cThe impact of visitor spending in our communities proves<br \/>\nthat our investments in visitor experiences provide valuable returns \u2014 including<br \/>\njob creation \u2014that help keep Maryland smart, green and growing.&#8221;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/land\/MD_Trails\/Funding.asp\">https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/land\/MD_Trails\/Funding.asp<\/a>oldId.20120912025019190<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[B&#8217; Spokes: I ran across this while researching the previous article and it&#8217;s cool enough to share.] The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both non-motorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The RTP is an assistance program &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=242880619\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Funding for Trails in Maryland&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242880619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bike-paths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242880619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=242880619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242880619\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=242880619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=242880619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=242880619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}