Building a whitewater park and acres of trails in downtown Skowhegan is not enough to transform our community—we need to provide opportunities for our residents to get outside, get active, and engage with nature.

Main Street Skowhegan, in partnership with the Outdoor Sport Institute and other community stakeholders, developed the five-year Skowhegan AmeriCorps Outdoor Recreation Program for catalyzing a cultural shift toward a more active lifestyle in Skowhegan—specifically for the benefit of our residents.

The program provides a roadmap for promoting our current outdoor recreation facilities, encouraging walking and low-impact activities, providing skill-building and regular outdoor recreation programming, ensuring access to these activities, energizing volunteers to build capacity, and enhancing current trails and creating new ones.

By offering activities for outdoor recreation and engagement with nature, we will improve health outcomes, enhance quality of life, and cultivate an active lifestyle culture in Skowhegan and the region. We will also build a base of local users for the Run of River Whitewater Recreation Area.

Under the guidance of Main Street Skowhegan, three full-time AmeriCorps members—Outdoor Recreation Coaches—will spearhead program implementation over the next three years (May 2019 to April 2022), assessing outcomes, tweaking strategies and action steps as needed to achieve our goal, and building a base of volunteers to sustain programming for years to come.

Click here to download a copy of the program.