2010 Grant Recipients

A total of 19 local nonprofits and public agencies received Kodak American Greenway Grants to support local trail and open space projects. The recipients include:

• Trees Atlanta, for the purchase of goats to manage the kudzu and other non-native invasive species along the Atlanta Belt Line, a more effective form of control that also cuts down the amount of chemicals used;
• Passaic River Coalition, for the restoration of small historic sheds along the Highlands Meadow Trail, which serves both as an introduction to farm life at the beginning of the 20th century and a gateway into the rich natural area in the hills of the New Jersey highlands;
• Esperanza Community Housing Organization, to build urban street-side gardens throughout downtown Los Angeles, creating ribbons of green and flowers throughout a community in which the natural environment is constructed primarily of steel and concrete.

Kodak American Greenways Awards

Eastman Kodak Company, the National Geographic Society, and The Conservation Fund are the partners in the Kodak American Greenways Program, an annual program that recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations for exemplary leadership in the enhancement of our nation’s outdoor heritage. The program was established in response to the recommendation from the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors that a national network of greenways be created. Since the program’s inception in 1989, more than $800,000 has been granted to nearly 700 organizations in all 50 states.

Up to four winners of National Greenway Awards are recognized during a public awards ceremony at the National Geographic Society in Washington DC.  In 2010, the ceremony was held on October 12.

2010 Award Recipients:

2010 Kodak American Greenways National Award Ceremony
From left: Larry Selzer, President & CEO, The Conservation Fund; Jim Spaanstra, Will Shafroth & Lise Aangeenbrug from Great Outdoors Colorado, National Award recipient; Joshua Laird & Patrick Cullina from The Highline Park, National Award recipient; Dick Steffes, National Award recipient; David Hartwell, National Award recipient; Charles Ruffing, director of Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainability at Kodak.

Photo: Christian J. Lewis

• David Hartwell, president and founder of Minneapolis-based Bellcomb Technologies Incorporated and the driving force behind a citizen campaign to establish dedicated funding for land and water conservation in Minnesota, resulting in the passage of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment in 2008, which will provide more than $6 billion for conservation in the state over the next 25 years;
• Richard (Dick) Steffes, a 36-year veteran of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, who directed the acquisition of more than 700,000 acres of state parks, forests and wildlife habitat, including expansions to the Chippewa Flowage, the Mountain Bay State Trail and the Straight Lake Wilderness State Park and Wildlife Area;
• Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), a unique, voter-approved program that has used nearly $600 million in state lottery funds since 1994 to protect more than 800,000 acres of open space, including the creation and expansion of more than a thousand parks and the construction and restoration of nearly 80 miles of trails;
• The High Line Park, a public park built atop an abandoned railroad viaduct elevated above the streets on the west side of Manhattan. Since the first section of the High Line opened in the spring of 2009, more than three million people have visited the park. When the next section of the High Line opens in the spring of 2011, the park will double in size, creating more public open space in one of the most densely populated cities. The High Line is maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line, a non-profit conservancy, under a license agreement with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.