Enacted into law on August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoor Act (GAOA) permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to deliver benefits to North Carolina (NC) residents through infrastructure investments and acquisitions to North Carolina State Parks and parks and trails in local communities.

For North Carolina (NC) to be eligible for the LWCF, the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation must update the statewide comprehensive outdoor recreation plan (sometimes called SCORP) every 5 years.

The 2025-2030 NC plan called “Shaping Outdoor Recreation from Mountains to Sea” will ask staff and residents to provide input to identify needs and new opportunities for outdoor recreation improvements and conservation efforts to set forth an action plan for the future of our state’s natural resources. To learn more about the project and the planning process, please visit this webpage: NC Parks - SCORP Webpage

The following recommendations are the result of an almost two-year long effort of analysis and statewide engagement. These recommendations will provide the Division of Parks and Recreation and local recreation providers with the tools and guidelines for grant funding and resource allocation.

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* Theme 1: Health & Well-Being

Transform parks into dynamic spaces for physical activity, mental rejuvenation, and social connection.

Recommendations:
  • Support improvements in public health and fitness by increasing opportunities for physical activity.
  • Promote programming, facilities, and built environment improvements that provide physical and mental health benefits.
  • Identify the disparities in how people access park system and champion efforts to reduce inequities in access.
  • Support the creation of more regional trail organizations like the Carolina Thread Trail, Piedmont Legacy Trails, and the Triangle Trails Initiative to add trail development capacity at a regional level across the state.
  • Increase opportunities for adaptive trail users by encouraging new natural surface trails to be built to adaptive trail use standards or identify existing natural surface trails that can be retrofitted to meet adaptive trail use standards.
  • Establish annual trails programming based on the Year of the Trail model to increase trail programming across all 100 counties.
  • Support the continued development of trail benefits studies.

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* Theme 2: Recreation for All

Reimagine all parks as welcoming, safe, and valued places for all users through universal access.

Recommendations:
  • Meet the needs of North Carolina’s rapidly growing population by providing more recreation opportunities in areas of the state where growth is taking place.
  • Renovate, replace and revitalize existing park amenities across the State.
  • Increase opportunities and public awareness of the state’s natural resources and recreation opportunities for the unaware and current non-users.
  • Improve outdoor educational programs to achieve multiple benefits such as local history, cultural awareness, and environmental stewardship.
  • Address the real and perceived barrier of 'overcrowding' in parks.
  • Develop multi-layered strategies to provide easier access to local and state parks for all residents.
  • Create a more welcoming environment in parks across the State.
  • Promoting workforce diversity to strengthen ties between parks and diverse user groups.
  • Leverage technology to enhance outdoor experiences when visiting State parks.
  • Leverage the strong presence of federally and non-federally recognized indigenous communities to expand recreation experiences.

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* Theme 3: Resiliency

Achieve lasting resiliency and build sustainable, adaptive park systems that prepare our communities for future challenges.

Recommendations:
  • Protect and conserve North Carolina’s high-quality natural resources and landscapes.
  • Continue to focus on the protected and unprotected wetlands across the state for conservation efforts.
  • Invest in infrastructure improvements that consider the impacts of climate change on outdoor recreation.
  • Raise community stewardship across the State to protect natural, cultural, and historical resources.

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* Theme 4: Economic Impact

Harness the transformative power of parks to stimulate business development, tourism, and community investment.

Recommendations:
  • Promote the economic benefits of the state’s recreation opportunities for communities across North Carolina.
  • Develop strategies around funding allocations to ensure the needs of all communities are met.
  • Explore diversifying funding sources to support the federal grants allocations in expanding recreation opportunities for state and local parks.
  • Market North Carolina as recreation destination.
  • Prepare proactively for unforeseen challenges with natural disasters or other events.
  • Continue to promote trails network across the State as economic driver.
  • Identify a funding source for implementation of the Great Trails State Plan and designate an entity to continually update the Great Trails State Network.
  • Increase the capacity of Partner organizations to coordinate planning, design, and construction activities for their State Trail.

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