Arizona State Parks and Trails Receives Recognition for Outstanding Trail Program

PHOENIX — Arizona State Parks and Trails has received recognition for its “Sign Language Saturdays” program at Kartchner Caverns State Park by the Coalition for Recreational Trails.

The 2021 Tom Petri Recreational Trails Program Annual Achievement Awards – honoring former U.S. Representative Tom Petri (WI) – recognize outstanding use of Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funds. Arizona State Parks and Trails’ “Sign Language Saturdays” program was honored on November 11, 2021 at a live virtual ceremony with participation by award recipients and key trails champions, including members of Congress.

“Kartchner Caverns State Park is one of our most popular destinations and has an amazing story,” said Bob Broscheid, executive director of Arizona State Parks and Trails. “Enhancing our tours by offering sign language interpreters is a great example of using grant funding to open the doors to even more people. We are proud to receive this honor.”

Arizona State Parks and Trails used available Recreational Trails Program funding to offer sign-language interpreted tours through Kartchner Caverns. More than 150,000 people visit the park annually, exploring the caves and learning how they were discovered and how they are preserved and protected today. The park was designed to be an accessible destination, with wheelchair access through the two caves. Guided cave tours are conducted multiple times per day, with skilled interpretative guides sharing the history and development of the cave. To make the guided tour and story of the cave accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, Arizona State Parks and Trails provided sign language interpreters and advanced audio equipment for cave tours and trail hikes in the park. Funds paid sign language interpreters to participate in regularly scheduled cave tours and other trail hikes.

The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is an assistance program of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The program provides funds for all kinds of recreational trail uses, such as pedestrian uses (hiking, running, wheelchair use), bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles. This is just one of five types of grant funding that is available from Arizona State Parks and Trails. To learn more about grants offered, visit AZStateParks.com/grants.

Details on the honored projects and programs as well as a link to viewing the awards ceremony are available at www.rectrails.org.

Managing and conserving Arizona's natural, cultural and recreational resources for the benefit of the people, both in our parks and through our partners.

For information about Arizona State Parks and the many recreational, historical and cultural programs, call 1-877-MY-PARKS or visit AZStateParks.com.

PRESS CONTACT: Michelle Thompson at (480) 589-8877 - Email: pio@azstateparks.gov