In a Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012, photo, Appalachian Trail Conservancy crew members Newt Ronan, left, Trey Coyle and Jeremy Taylor perform maintenance on the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, Tenn. The ATC is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the completion of the 2,180-mile path that stretches from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Maine.The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a new plan for managing the Appalachian Trail over the next five years.
It's the first strategic management plan for the trail in 12 years and the first to tackle such timely challenges as protecting the landscape adjacent to the trail corridor and reaching out to a younger and more ethnically diverse generation of trail supporters.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's board of directors spent two years developing the plan.