Virginia Public Radio

In recent years, as the National Park Service has faced deep funding cuts and a stagnant number of visitors, the country’s demographic changes have made its problems more pronounced. Most visitors to National Parks are white, and increasingly they’re also older. For instance, Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park is one of the nation’s most visited and accessible parks, yet recent research indicates that 92% of visitors in 2011 were white.In hopes of shifting the numbers, the Park Service is now supporting new programs and grassroots groups working to attract underrepresented categories of visitors: young people, African-Americans and Latinos. Jonna McKone has the story of the group “Girl Trek” working to get African American women healthier — using National Parks to inspire long-term health.