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Perquimans County Greenway/Blueway Trail Plan
February 3, 2003: " I got involved with the  East Coast Greenway because
of how it can serve as a catalyst for greenway and trail projects where
there have been none before. Greenways and trails can serve to vastly
improve the quality of life in communities that have the foresightto build
them. They bring opportunities to not only improve thehealth of local
residents, but also, if long enough, offer tourismbenefits as well. "
Bill Bussey, NC East Coast Greenway Committee Chair
This quote is from an email received from Bill
after he was contacted regarding a small flyer
found in a stack of information. It just so happens
that Perquimans County is on the NC Coastal East
Coast Greenway Route. Bill's words triggered all
sorts of possibilities that are mirrored in Hertford
and Perquimans County, A Vision for Heritage Tourism.
This report was completed in 1998 as a result
of" Gordon Clapp, the executive director
of the NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports
Development, issuing a challenges to the town
of Hertford, NC. His request…over the next
six weeks, the community come together and develop
a "wish list" and "vision plan" for
heritage tourism in Hertford" . -excerpt
from the Introduction of the above mentioned Vision
Plan.
Perhaps the timing was serendipitous, but the
potential benefits of an East Coast Greenway designation
definitely was a match with the Vision Plan. After
one year of fitting all the pieces together-here
we are.
The National Park Service, Rivers Trails Conservation
Assistance Program (RTCA) offers technical assistance
for Greenway projects. Because of all the wonderful
technology, we happened upon their link and Perquimans
County applied for technical assistance in June.
The County was accepted and notified in September.
We are so fortunate to have Bill Lane, a Landscape
Architect from the National Park Service RTCA
program as out partner in and facilitator for
this project. Here is what Bill has to say about
us. "Perquimans County was selected as a
2004 RTCA project because
of it's commitment toward quality resource protection
and recreation resource develop- ment; a passionate
place focused on proactively making itself an
even better place to live and work; hard-working,
committed local partners willing to see a citizen-based
planning process through to the end and then committed
to implementation; and a place overflowing
with special natural and cultural resources. It
is an area of eastern North Carolina that has
a big community vision, but just needs a little
help in bringing that vision to reality.
Wendy and Bobby, I truly believe in the statement
above. It will be a pleasure working with
both of you and the citizens of Perquimans through
the year 2005."
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