Greenways are linear open spaces that help preserve and restore the natural systems within and connecting cities, suburbs, and rural areas. 

The Conservation Fund's American Greenways Program seeks to foster a nationwide network of greenways. This network of green will link natural areas, historic sites, parks and open space providing benefits for conservation, recreation and economic development while enhancing the quality of life for people of all ages, abilities and economic means. The Conservation Fund is also a supporter of the Trails and Greenways Clearinghouse operated by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which provides technical assistance, information resources and referrals to trail and greenway advocates and developers across the nation.

The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people, working nationwide to protect open space as parks, gardens, recreation areas, and wilderness. Their website offers several relevant publications online.

Many cities, counties and states have their own citizen- or agency-led greenways programs, actively working to acquire land for greenways and promote their use through programs and information. A few examples are Florida's Office of Greenways and Trails, the grassroots groups Wachusett Greenways in central Massachusetts, Ozark Greenways in Missouri, and Mountains to Sound Greenway in Washington state, Mission Creek Bikeway and Greenbelt in San Francisco, and the city efforts by Asheville, North Carolina, Nashville Greenways, Bloomington, Indiana's Alternative Transportation and Greenways System Plan (PDF), and Indy Greenways (from Indianapolis, Indiana.) The Greenbelt Alliance works to protect the greenbelt of the San Francisco Bay Area. There are greenways programs in numerous other communities as well.

The Pennsylvania Greenways Clearinghouse website not only helps create a greenway network for interested people in the state, but also offers a primer on greenways and their benefits, and a Greenways Toolbox for groups planning and managing greenways.

One of the most ambitious large-scale greenway projects seeks to create a 2,600-mile East Coast Greenway linking east coast cities from Maine to Florida. The project stitches together locally owned and managed trail segments in a comprehensive whole.

Natural Connections: Green Infrastructure in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana combined data from agencies, land trusts and conservation groups into a 175-layer map of publicly owned lands, existing and proposed greenways, waterways, trails, and other natural areas and open space for a 14-county area.

On-line Articles 

Florida Office of Greenways & Trails Reference and Resource Guide, available online, provides information on planning, funding, developing and designating greenways and trails.

Greenways: Those Long, Skinny, Green Parks, from the Trust for Public Land newsletter.

New York's Quiet Greenway Explosion, an article from Transportation Alternatives Magazine, includes a map and detailed greenway listing.

Trails and Greenways: Advancing the Smart Growth Agenda, from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, documents the benefits of green infrastructure. (PDF)

Publications 

Greenways for America, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8018-4066 
Describes the origins, history, and philosophy of the greenway movement as well as some of the nation's most outstanding greenways.

Greenways: A Guide to Planning, Design, and Development, Island Press, 1993. ISBN 1-55963-136-8 
Provides professionals and citizen activists with the tools they need for dealing with all aspects of developing a greenway plan.

Last updated: December 7, 2004

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