Tool Shed: Trails and Greenways

Trails and Greenways

Trails and greenways provide enjoyable and safe options for transportation, which helps to improve air quality. Additionally, greenways prevent soil erosion and filter pollution caused by agricultural and road runoff, protecting land along rivers and streams and helping to improve water quality. This area contains resources applicable to planning, development, and maintenance of trails, greenways, and natural buffer zones within our parks.

Guidelines for Maintaining Streams in Your Community

PA DEP Pamphlet

Does DEP need to be called before you work in a stream? This pamphlet guides that decision.

Multi-State Study Offers Recommendations for Keeping Bermudagrass Greener All Season

Nick Kordsmeier, Director Arkansas Agricultural Exp. Station

Whether an athletic field, golf course or lawn, a new study provides great tips for keeping turfgrass greener longer. Researchers in six states collaborated to identify three recommendations to extend green color and reduce cold-weather injury in hybrid bermudagrass.

SAMPLE - 10-Year Trail Plan

DE State Parks, 2022

Sample trail plan from a DE state park with estimated 156,890 visitors annually.

SAMPLE - State Park Trail Plan

DE State Parks, 2019

Example trail plan for a DE state park with an estimated 164,000 visitors annually.

Optimizing Tow Plow and Wing Plow Deployment

UC Davis, 2021

Practices Guide is designed to aid state DOTs in determining how and where to deploy various plows and configurations to optimize cost-effectiveness and other efficiencies. This guide

Testing Equipment and Techniques to Reduce Loads on the Stem

Tree Climbing Industry, 2022

This article investigates two different rigging scenarios to better understand how the selection of specific equipment and the use of a strategic limb-removal sequence can affect the load (and subsequent stress) on the stem of the tree being removed.

Landscape and Horticultural Services

US Dept. of Labor, 2022

OSHA website dedicated to safety resources for landscape and horticultural related industries.

What are Permeable Surfaces?

Penn State Extension, 2022

Permeable surfaces are alternatives to typical paving methods that can help to greatly increase infiltration and decrease flooding and run-off issues

Why Should I Care About Invasive Plants?

Mid-west Invasive Plant Council, 2022

This brochure describes how invasive plants impact hunting, fishing, boating, gardening, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and other recreational activities.

Pennsylvania Invasive Species Fact Sheet

Center for Rural Pennsylvania, 2021

The information presented here is based on recent Center for Rural Pennsylvania research, legislative hearings,and correspondence with government and community partners. Invasive species affect a wide range of industriesincluding, but not limited to, agriculture, hardwoods/forestry, outdoor recreation, and tourism.

Pollinator-Friendly Parks

Xerces Society, 2021

The goal of this publication is to provide helpful information so parks can be planned and managed with pollinators and other insects in mind.

Best Management Practices (BMPs) forBee Health in the Horticultural Industry

Horticultural Research Institute, 2017

While the green industry is diverse, some common threads exist among greenhouse and nursery production and landscape management when pollinator safety is concerned.

Conservation Landscaping Guidelines

Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, 2013

Engaging in the conservation landscaping practices described here can make an important difference in helping preserve the region’s plants, habitats, and animals, all critical elements in the complex web of life that characterizes a watershed.

Basic Principles of Watershed Restoration and Stormwater Management

University of Maryland Extension, 2020

The objective of this document is to provide an overview of the most relevant urban stormwater management and watershed restoration issues, common mitigating practices, and regulations relevant to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Habitat Gardening for Wildlife

Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2015

If we provide consistent, clear messagesand simple guidance about how to improve or restore habitat in our communities, then the resulting actionsby the public should help to slow—and ultimately, one hopes, to reverse—the trend of declining wildlife species.