Annual Report for FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway

FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

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FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

The Next Generation Inspiring children and youth to move away from cyberspace and into green space!

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About Us Who we are he mission of FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway is to help preserve, promote and enhance the outstanding natural beauty, ecological vitality and cultural distinctiveness of the Blue Ridge Parkway and its corridor, including surrounding scenic landscape, thereby preserving this national treasure for future generations.

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To accomplish our mission...

We champion Parkway interests: Working with the National Park Service, we champion the Blue Ridge Parkway to the general public, Congress and other government entities.

We coordinate efforts as we forge alliances with agencies, foundations and nonprofits to preserve and protect the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We provide services to the Blue Ridge Parkway visitor: We assist the National Park Service in providing information, programs and services to aid visitors to America’s most visited national park.

We enhance communities: We promote conservation and environmental education.

We promote an ownership, support and appreciation of park mission and resource

values. We work toward the integration of economic development with environmental protection at the local, state and national levels.

We educate: Our programs and services foster an understanding of the importance of protecting and preserving the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We, as a membership organization, promote volunteerism: We recruit and help supply a corps of volunteers for designated parkway and friends projects.

We practice responsible stewardship: By using member dues and other gifts effectively, we bring quality programs and services to conserve the natural and cultural heritage of the Blue Ridge parkway.

We raise funds and execute projects: We organize projects and raise funds to protect, preserve and enhance the Blue Ridge Parkway and its scenic corridor.

We are a nonprofit organization 501(c) (3): We support and work with the national park service as stewards of park resources.

We support the National Park Service as an independent organization.

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FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

What We Do? SAVE PARKWAY VIEWS Clear overlooks & vistas and plant trees rom the beginning, the Blue Ridge Parkway was intended as a visual feast. National Park Service landscape architect Stanley W. Abbott and his design team created a route with a carefully planned landscape that highlighted glorious mountain vistas at nearly every turn.

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As the years passed, those curated vistas and overlooks became less spectacular, threatened by brush and overgrowth of trees -- some sites hadn’t been cleared in 70 years.

Many of the original views all but disappeared. That’s when FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway stepped in. FRIENDS’ support has fueled the National Park Service’s Overlook Restoration Project, which began in the fall of 2014 with NPS arborists clearing vistas along the parkway corridor in Virginia. The program resumed in spring 2015 with work at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.

After a delay to deal with animal habitat concerns, the program has resumed clearings in both Virginia

and North Carolina. And once again, FRIENDS is funding the effort, making the project a reality.

Preserving vistas involves not only cutting trees down, but planting them as well. In locations identified by the park service where the Parkway’s beauty is marred by encroaching residential and commercial development, FRIENDS’ plants trees engaging children, families and community supporters to volunteer and plant trees.

We Love Our Trees Today FRIENDS has planted more than 7,000 trees and engages close to a thousand community volunteers. Saving the Blue Ridge Parkway is an on-going process, and FRIENDS is committed to it.

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Save Parkway Views Program $17,835 Invested in Program

5,340 trees planted in the past 13 years

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FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

What We Do… VOLUNTEERS IN PARKS & INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS Very Important Volunteers he National Park Service’s Volunteers In Parks (VIP) program was created by an act of Congress in 1969. The program grew steadily, and today, well over 200,000 Americans volunteer for their national parks every year. On the Blue Ridge Parkway, VIPs work to preserve the cultural heritage, history, and natural resources of the Parkway region through the support of education, interpretation, and resource protection activities. The VIP program helps Parkway staff accomplish more than it could on its own. Volunteers are involved in virtually every aspect of park operations.

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All FRIENDS volunteers are also members of the VIP program, and an important function of FRIENDS chapters is to recruit more volunteers. To FRIENDS – and to the NPS – volunteers are very important people!

FRIENDS is also charged with keeping records of the service its volunteers contribute. Beginning in 2016, this effort will make a great technological leap with the introduction of FRIENDS’ online database. Created in partnership with Better Impact, this database will greatly simplify FRIENDS’ record-keeping and prove an invaluable resource for the National Park Service.

Interpretive services make for a richer and deeper park experience. Guides at Parkway sites offer demonstrations such as apple-butter making, blacksmithing, fishing, spinning and basket-making, among other traditional chores of pioneer life. Unfortunately, these interpretive experiences are frequently under threat as the park service is forced to cut costs. FRIENDS steps in to help with funding and more – sometimes, the parkway interpreter is a FRIENDS volunteer!.

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Blue Ridge Gardens FRIENDS volunteers work to maintain the historic gardens at Humpback Rocks, Mabry Mill and Brinegar Cabin. These Blue Ridge Heritage Gardens are stocked with historically accurate plants, such as heirloom fruit trees, typical of early farm life in the mountains.

Blue Ridge Music The Parkway is the most visited national park in the United States, with more than 15 million visitors reported in 2015. Tourists eager for a window into Appalachian culture are rewarded with FRIENDS-funded programs that help bring the Blue Ridge experience to life.

Blue Ridge traditional mountain music is a justly celebrated part of life in the Blue Ridge.

FRIENDS provides support for warm-weather concert series park-wide including Roanoke Mountain, Humpback Rocks and Mabry Mill as well as some youth performances at the Blue Ridge Music Center. These programs are always free and open to the public.

Blue Ridge Festivals & Events

FRIENDS supports a number of festivals on the Parkway corridor,

including Family Fun Weekend, the James River Transportation Festival,

Johnson Farmfest, Naturefest, the Overmountain Victory event and music and art in the mountains. Volunteers assist with various special events, such as concerts, at Roanoke Mountain, Mabry Mill and Brinegar Cabin.

Blue Ridge Parkway Interns FRIENDS undertakes a big commitment every year in funding internships for college students. Interns at the Blue Ridge Music Center, Mabry Mill and Doughton Park are have the opportunity to explore careers in conservation while helping create digital content and serving as guides and interpreters at their locations.

Blue Ridge Parkway Volunteer Events FRIENDS undertakes a big commitment every year in funding internships for college students. Interns at the Blue Ridge Music Center, Mabry Mill and Doughton Park are have the opportunity to explore careers in conservation while helping create digital content and serving as guides and interpreters at their locations.

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FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

Trails Forever Program $36,065 Invested In Program

What We Do… TRAILS FOREVER/PARKWAY FOREVER Maintaining Parkway Resources RIENDS wants to ensure that the Parkway’s trails, overlooks, cemeteries and other assets are top quality for Parkway visitors. That job is accomplished through volunteers who invest thousands of hours to preserve these assets --restoring split-rail fences, painting mile-marker posts, maintaining campgrounds, clearing litter, and a host of other duties. TRAILS FOREVER is a multifaceted program that builds on the existing strengths of the Blue Ridge Parkway/ FRIENDS Adopt-A-Trail and Adopt-An-Overlook programs utilizing volunteers.

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FRIENDS’ Chapters are the front line of these programs. The chapters encourage community engagement focusing on maintenance and enhancement of these

FRIENDS Connects Parkway communities with preservation and enhancement efforts

natural resources. Chapter leaders are experienced workers who encourage volunteerism, raise the necessary funds for the projects and plan and implement the projects and programs requested by the Park Service.

FRIENDS is entrusted with the care and maintenance of all 350+ miles of trails on Parkway land in Virginia and North Carolina. Through the Adopt-A-Trail Program, Blue Ridge Parkway volunteers repair, maintain and construct Parkway trails. This program focuses not only on rebuilding trails, but also making them accessible to impaired visitors. In addition there are nearly 300 overlooks and more than 60 cemeteries – all which need attention so the Parkway visitor can have a positive and enriched experience during their visit.

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CHILDREN AND YOUTH ENGAGEMENT Alternative Break and Junior Rangers

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critical part of FRIENDS’ mission is to ensure that a new generation takes stewardship of the Parkway. FRIENDS reaches out to children and youth with programs that offer a healthy dose of fun along with learning and volunteer service.

FRIENDS’ Alternative Break Program, which engages college students in environmental service, is expanded every year. During the fall and spring, students spend a week on the Parkway repairing fences, clearing trails and learning about Appalachian culture and the local Parkway communities.

They benefit from the expert guidance of FRIENDS members who help them get oriented and make their visits comfortable.

Student volunteers also provide service projects in local communities such as packing food boxes and delivering the boxes to families.

In the NPS Junior Ranger program, younger children find themselves invested in protecting national parks while learning about conservation. FRIENDS funds this program for the Blue Ridge Parkway and provides materials – handbooks, maps, activity sheets – as downloads on the FRIENDS website.

More than 3,000 children were involved in the Junior Ranger program – a record number and a 73% jump over the year before!

Junior Ranger Program 1,593 Junior Rangers in 2015

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FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

What We Do… BLUE RIDGE CHAPTERS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH Outreach RIENDS keeps a high profile in communities along the Parkway through its presence and sponsorship at a number of events, including the Blue Ridge Marathon, Roanoke’s Tons of Fun (an annual winter event for children) and FRIENDS’ own Annual Golf Classic. FRIENDS also stays in the public eye through its Blue Ridge Parkway License Plate, a popular choice with Virginia drivers.

Proceeds from the license plate go to benefit Overlook Restoration efforts.

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FRIENDS maintains information stations and donation boxes at Parkway attractions such as visitors centers and the Blue Ridge Music Center.

FRIENDS also reaches out through its publications, both in print and online. The quarterly High Vistas journal keeps members informed about their

organization, and members and supporters receive monthly e-newsletters. A revamped website, launched in December 2014, has been a key means of contact between the organization and the public.

Chapters RIENDS’ chapter network is the backbone of our outreach efforts along the Parkway. Most FRIENDS volunteers belong to a Parkway community Chapter. Each Chapter has a section of the Parkway they are responsible for. That section is identified by milepost numbers; the numbering system starts at the north end of the Parkway near the Shenandoah National Park (Milepost 0) and the numbers increase as you travel south ending with 469 near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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FRIENDS Chapters assist the National Park Service by:

Recruiting volunteers for FRIENDS Parkway programs/projects Administering programs/projects Collecting donations from Parkway Donation Boxes Developing partnerships within the

community. These partnerships will help the community be more aware of FRIENDS and the Parkway. Example partner groups include colleges and universities, teams, Boy/Girl Scouts, other natural resource groups such as greenway and trail groups, etc.

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Chapters Engaging Community $36,065 Invested In Program

Community outreach is about teaching others about the ecological, historical and cultural vitality of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Fundraising for FRIENDS Parkway programs and projects Educating the public on FRIENDS Parkway programs and projects support Providing self-sustainability for the Chapter in its dual service to FRIENDS and the Parkway

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FRIENDS Annual Report 2015

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Executive Director

Assistant Director

Susan Jackson Mills, Ph.D.

Pam Basham

Susan_Mills@FriendsBRP.org

Pam_Basham@FriendsBRP.org

Administrative Assistant

Membership & Donor Services Coordinator

Bookkeeper

Mary Ellen Belcher

Gail Webb

Beth_Clark@FriendsBRP.org

MaryEllen_Belcher@ FriendsBRP.org

Gail_Webb@FriendsBRP.org

Founders of FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, c. 1988

Beth Clark

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License Plate Comment on support from sales of license plates and how popular this plate is!!

CONTACT// FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway Office: 4419 Pheasant Ridge Road, Building 2 Suite 101 Roanoke, VA 24018 Phone: 800.228.PARK (7275) / 540.772.2992 E-mail: staff@friendsbrp.org www.friendsbrp.org

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