Mission 11 · First State National Historical Park · DE · 2026

First State trail plan

The National Park Service has a decision open here and is taking comments on it. First State National Historical Park, Delaware.

The agency files it as “BRVA- Comprehensive Trail Plan”

Record openthe agency stopped taking comments September 29 · what you find still counts

Places to check

People it would take

Said they’ll go

Photographs filed

Opened

September 4

Window closed

September 29

Evidence

Nothing filed yet.

No photograph has been filed on this mission yet. The first one lands here with its fingerprint, where its location came from, and how far inside the agency’s own boundary it was taken. The places to check are below.

The objective

What we are testing.

First State National Historical ParkRoute use

“the singletrack trails have tread widths of 24 to 48 inches”

The agency wrote that in its own document, under Natural, Scenic, and Aesthetic Values. Nobody has been out to check it.

Walk the narrow foot-and-bike trails in the Brandywine Valley Unit and lay a tape measure across the worn tread at several spots, including popular curves and hill bottoms. A photo of a tape across the worn tread showing the path is clearly narrower or wider than two to four feet.

0 of 6 going · nobody lives near it yetWhat to look for, and how to file it

The paperwork

Everything else the document says about the ground.

7 more sentences, in the agency’s own words, with where each one sits in the document. Any of them is fair game for a photograph.

“The highest northeastern ridges are about 400 feet above sea level and its lowest point”
Under Natural, Scenic, and Aesthetic ValuesWhere: northeastern ridges and Brandywine Creek at the unit's lowest point
“The current trail network consists of historical farm roads and singletrack trails, all with natural or unpaved surfacing”
Under Natural, Scenic, and Aesthetic ValuesWhere: any existing trail segment in the Brandywine Valley unit
“trails located near surface mines will be closed or rerouted because their proximity poses direct safety risks to visitors”
Under Safety ConsiderationsWhere: trail sections near mapped surface mines in the Brandywine Valley unit
“steep trails that present both safety hazards and erosion problems will be closed and replaced with looped trail options”
Under Safety ConsiderationsWhere: Rocky Run area trails
“trail realignments will address several unsafe road-trail intersections and reduce safety risks”
Under Safety ConsiderationsWhere: Ramsey Road corridor
“highlighted the presence of sensitive habitats, including wetlands that may provide potential habitat for the federally threatened bog turtle”
Under Wildlife and Park ResourcesWhere: wetland areas identified near new trail construction sites
“improve interpretation of historic structures (e.g., trails NP15 and N21 near the Samuel Tawley sawmill)”
Under Natural, Scenic, and Aesthetic ValuesWhere: trails NP15 and N21 near the Samuel Tawley sawmill

The decision

Who is deciding, and when.

Deciding: National Park Service
Kind of decision: NPS project (PEPC)
The agency’s title: BRVA- Comprehensive Trail Plan
Published: July 30
Comments closed: September 29
The notice: The agency’s own page

Read the whole decision, and write to the agency

Status

Record open.

The window shut September 29. Evidence still counts: it backs the objections from people who did comment, goes to the lawyers, and outlives the decision.

What you can do

Join the Corps Write to the agency

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.

Loading the map

The agency has not published a map we can check of the exact patches this covers, so the map draws the whole place.

How to record it so it counts

Route use

The whole checklist, with the phone settings, is in the field guide.

Before you go

Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

Working this fight for a group?

The evidence desk for this mission is at corps/desk/11. One grant per fight, every open logged, members appear as numbers. Write to ask@morethanjustparks.com and say which fight and why.