TUPELO– The Natchez Trace Parkway is pleased to welcome Transportation Scholar Joel Barnett. Now in its 13th year, this program selects emerging transportation professionals to work side-by-side with the National Park Service staff to find solutions that address the growing and unique transportation issues in America’s national parks, including visitor safety, traffic, pollution, and congestion. Mr. Barnett’s main focus is to compile data to be used to develop a bicycle safety program on the Parkway.
“We are enthusiastic to be working with Mr. Barnett. He has a strong academic background in civil engineering with an emphasis in traffic studies, and we anticipate that the Parkway and our visitors will benefit from his expertise” said Superintendent Mary Risser.
The Natchez Trace Parkway is one of five national parks across the country selected to participate in the 2014 Transportation Scholars program of the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks. The National Park Foundation’s Transportation Scholars program is made possible, in part, through the support of CSX Transportation, Eno Center for Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Motorola Solutions Foundation, the National Park Service, and thePaul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Technical Assistance Center.
For additional information, please call the visitor center at 662-680-4027 or 1-800-305-7417.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.
About the National Park Foundation. The National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, raises private funds that directly aid, support, and enrich America’s more than 400 national parks and their programs. Chartered by Congress as the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation plays a critical role in conservation and preservation efforts, establishing national parks as powerful learning environments, and giving all audiences an equal and abundant opportunity to experience, enjoy, and support America’s treasured places.
For more information on the National Park Foundation and how you can support and protect America’s national parks, please visit www.nationalparks.org.
MEDIA RELEASE/Office of the Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway