North Carolina Gullah Geechee Greenway Blueway Heritage Trail Welcomes You
More than a Trail
The mission of our effort is to further preserve, protect and celebrate the culture and heritage of the Gullah Geechee people and their important link to the Lower Cape Fear River area through active community involvement to develop and maintain a 30-mile Heritage Trail.
OUR VISION
The Vision for this effort embraces sustainable recreation, transportation, and tourism opportunities for residents and visitors of Brunswick County while providing safe multi-use paths to destinations and activities. In our rapidly growing area, this unique opportunity will preserve, protect, and celebrate the Gullah Geechee Culture for future generations. The proposed greenway route would connect many of the historic features along the coastline of the Cape Fear River. Our proposal will help ensure that the contributions of the Gullah Geechee people to their language, customs and crafts are properly recognized and celebrated.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
While a few of the citizens of the lower Cape Fear region are generally familiar with Gullah Geechee people and their important linkages and contributions to the Lower Cape Fear River, many area residents, especially the newcomers, do not understand who the Gullah Geechee people were and the role that they played to develop the history, culture, and early economy of this area.
This project seeks to leverage and weave together the numerous efforts and reports that have established a critical baseline for cultural, historical, and ecological works all designed to increase our understanding and appreciation of past, present, and future character of the Gullah Geechee culture in the lower Cape Fear region.
We believe that this project will go a long way to help marginalized communities who, for years, have been burdened with the environmental and health challenges associated with impacts of industrial contamination, including climate change, by developing infrastructure that provides a transition to a cleaner energy economy.
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We do what we do for our children, grandchildren and their children to share the legacy of character, resilience and strength of faith.
Specific goals of this project:
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Educational Outreach: Increasing a local, regional, and nation-wide understanding and awareness of Gullah Geechee people, culture, and history.
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Post-pandemic economic recovery platform: Supporting tourism and businesses while promoting the preservation of the land and natural resources that are important to a heathy way of life and a sense of place.
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Social Inclusion: Recognition and participation of stakeholders and vulnerable groups is a key component of our community workshop efforts. Focusing on historically marginalized communities, this effort will bring their influence in the decision-making process by providing a seat at the table.
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Documentation and preservation of historic places: connecting and bonding our residents and visitors to the fabric of our society by preserving, celebrating, and providing access to them.
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Promote healthy living by creating new recreational and transportation opportunities that provide safe, inexpensive avenues for regular exercise for people living in our rapidly growing rural, urban, and suburban areas. This project provides a low-carbon solution will foster the development of economic links between our communities, neighborhoods and key community resources.
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Environmental protection of our important natural landscape, providing necessary links between fragmented our local habitats, and providing tremendous opportunities for protecting our ecosystems, wetlands, and floodplains.
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Provide a link to the larger matrix of the 3,000-mile East Coast Greenway: Now designated by the Governor as a NC State Trail.
