Governor Roy Cooper signed the following bills into law today at a signing ceremony at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh:
• House Bill 130: East Coast Greenway/State Trails
• House Bill 360: Authorize Dan River State Trail
“Designating these trails as part of the State Parks system will ensure that we continue to develop and maintain these important resources for all North Carolinians,” said Governor Cooper. “It is vital to the health and wellbeing of our state’s residents that public outdoor spaces are available to everyone, in every community.”
The bills authorize the addition of both the East Coast Greenway in Central and Eastern North Carolina and the Dan River State Trail in Stokes and Rockingham counties to the North Carolina State Parks system.
“Over the past 15 months, attendance at our parks and trails has skyrocketed as North Carolinians sought safe and beautiful spaces for outdoor recreation, physical and mental health,” said Reid Wilson, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “Adding these trails to the N.C. State Parks system expands the opportunities for all North Carolinians to maintain that connection with nature.”
The two trails will be units of the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The designation raises the trails’ profiles and makes them eligible for state support, including assistance to plan, develop and fund new trail sections.
The East Coast Greenway State Trail winds through 23 counties from the southeastern corner of the state through the Triangle to the north central Virginia border and the Dan River State Trail goes through Stokes and Rockingham counties. They will be the tenth and eleventh state trails in the park system, respectively.