Grand Canyon National Park Foundation Receives Accessibility Leadership Award

December 10, 2002 (NPS): In an award ceremony held at Grand Canyon National Park today, Superintendent Joseph F. Alston presented, on behalf on the Department of the Interior, National Park Service the 2002 National Accessibility Leadership Award to the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation, for their outstanding leadership in ensuring high accessibility standards for the Grand Canyon National Park Greenway project. When completed the Greenway could provide as many as 73 miles of new hiking and biking trails on the South and North Rims of Grand Canyon National Park, and will be the longest wheelchair accessible trail in the National Park System. Designed to improve visitor experience by offering a wider range of transit options into and around the park, the Greenway provides greater opportunities for visitors on foot, by bicycle or in a wheelchair to connect with the canyon.

"This award acknowledges the efforts of Deborah Tuck, President of the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation, and her ability to interest private donors like the Pulliam Charitable Trust, the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Haiman Foundation, and American Airlines, as well as many individual contributors," stated Superintendent Alston. "We congratulate the Foundation and its many partners - this unique effort is an extraordinary example of what public/private partnerships can do to help the Park Service expand the levels of opportunity for all visitors, we encourage them to continue their efforts in equal access for everyone."

Many of the park's visitor facilities are historic and were built before accessibility standards were developed. The Grand Canyon Greenway Development Plan was completed in 1997 by the Grand Canyon National Park Foundation, the National Park Service, and the Greenway Collaborative - a volunteer group of Greenway planners and designers specially formed to assist with this project. Designed for full accessibility, the trails will have an average width of 12 feet and be surfaced and graded to offer ease of movement for individuals using wheelchairs. The first four miles, completed in 2002, have a maximum slope of five percent and rest areas every 30 feet in places where the slope is at or near five percent. The earliest sections of the Greenway are the Grand Canyon Village Trail segments from Yavapai Point to Pipe Creek Vista on Desert View Drive and from Canyon View Information Plaza, the park's new visitor orientation and transportation center, to Grand Canyon Village.

The NPS initiated the National Accessibility Awards in the fall of 1998 to recognize outstanding accomplishments that result in greater opportunities with disabilities within the NPS. The Grand Canyon National Park Foundation was among six national winners that were selected by a national review panel. Award categories included Sustained Park Achievement; Programmatic Achievement; Accessibility Leadership; Volunteer Achievement; Design Achievement (Architectural); and Design Achievement (exhibits and Waysides). The national award winners will receive a Director's Award plaque and a letter from the Director outlining their accomplishments. The 2002 award winners along with photographs of their achievements are available on the NPS internet web page at www.nps.gov/access/.

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