Create Opportunities for Injured Service Members to Live Physically Active Lives
from NRPA
NRPA and United States Paralympics support local communities that enhance and grow their recreation, sport, and physical activity programming for injured military personnel through grants. Public park and recreation agencies are encouraged to apply for grants between $5,000 and $25,000. The grant money can be used for multiple things, including: • Equipment for adaptive programs (e.g., hand cycles) • Training and education of staff/program leaders • Program enhancements • ADA compliance for enhancing recreation experiences • Subsidizing program fees • And more! Whether you are an agency with an established program, wish to create or expand your program, or already provide daily physical activity programming for injured military personnel, we invite you to apply for a grant. The application will be available through Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. Create physical activity opportunities for injured service members and build awareness of inclusion resources in your community. Apply for an equipment, training, and program development grant today!Apply for an equipment, training, and program development grant today! For more information on the grant program or application process, contact Heidi Melancon at 800.626.NRPA (6772). This is just one of the resources available to you through NRPA and US Paralympics. Visit our website to learn more! More

Coyote Attacks Prompt Action in Griffith Park
from The Los Angeles Times
A man reported being attacked by a coyote in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, Calif., wildlife officials said. The man, who was lying down near the Travel Town area, reported waking up to find a coyote biting his foot, but he was not seriously injured, said Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. More

Park Attendance Up, Funding Down
from KentNewsNet.com
As economic reality puts greater strain on Ohioans' pocketbooks, many are discovering state and local parks as cheap vacation and recreation spots. The parks themselves, however, are feeling the sting of the recession through statewide budget cuts, even as park attendance goes up. More

A Community That Paid for a Park the City Can't Deliver
from Voice of San Diego
The community east of Carmel Valley, Calif. moved into the unfinished, developing community expecting that as it grew, public facilities like schools, parks and libraries would follow. With reason: it says so in the community plan. More

Clean Pools, Less Chlorine … With Moss?
from The New York Times
As its license plates proclaim, Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Now a Minneapolis-area company says it has figured out the secret to the state’s famously crystalline watering holes: moss. More

Study Links Distemper to Yellowstone Wolf Deaths
from The Salt Lake Tribune
A new study says canine distemper appears to be the cause of periodic increased death rates among wolf pups in Yellowstone National Park. More

In Hundreds of Cities, Parking Spaces Become Parks
from The Associated Press via Google News
Activists across the nation parked themselves curbside, taking up spaces reserved for cars and transforming them into mini parks with sod, potted plants, lawn chairs and even barbecues to raise awareness about how the auto has won the battle over public space in big cities. More

Sluggish Economy Has Vacationers Hitting the Great Outdoors
from The Arizona Republic
James McCarthy normally goes to places like Las Vegas for vacation. But a night on the lake costs a lot less than a night in Vegas, so McCarthy and a couple of friends decided to save some money during the economic downturn. They picked up some camping gear and spent a summer weekend at Dead Horse Ranch State Park outside Cottonwood, Ariz. instead. More

Bloomington Skate Park to Expand in California
from Redlands Daily Facts
The San Bernardino County, Calif. Board of Supervisors approved a 3,600-square- foot skate park expansion at Kessler Park that will include a 6-foot-high half-pipe, new bank ramps, grind rails, new quarter-pipes and multiple stair features. More

Reveling in 'America's Best Idea'
from CBS
It's dawn at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine, and a couple of hundred early-risers have gathered to watch the first rays of sunlight that hit the United States each day turn Frenchman bay to gold. Michael Minder brought his family here for their first trip ever to a national park. More

Bite Spurs Mother to Push for More Oversight at Park
from Hickory Daily Record
Elizabeth Ross went to Buffalo Beals Animal Park on Labor Day with her brother and grandfather, hoping to see a few animals and have a good time. But the 9-year-old didn't expect the day to end with a trip to the emergency room, with most of a finger on her right hand missing, bitten off by one of the animals at the animal park. More