The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is welcoming a slate of community ambassadors to guide the next steps of its Blue Ridge Rising initiative. The group of leaders will help implement strategies to unify gateway communities surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway for the betterment of the region. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation received the 2025 Outstanding Public Engagement Award from the Public Lands Alliance (PLA) during the organization’s annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) named George Ivey, North Carolina Development Director for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, to participate in the 2024-2025 class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a leadership training opportunity that equips Appalachian community leaders to use economic development as a tool to drive positive change. 

North Carolina drivers raised $574,461 to enhance the Blue Ridge Parkway by purchasing or renewing the national park specialty license plate in 2023.

New board officers, trustees and advisors have been appointed to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, which partners with the National Park Service to preserve and enhance the most-visited national park unit. 

More than 130 leaders from North Carolina and Virginia gathered to discuss a strategic action plan for the entire Blue Ridge Parkway corridor during the Blue Ridge Rising Two-State Summit Dec. 5-6 in Blowing Rock. 

Crews are now working to reconstruct the viewing platform atop Mount Pisgah in the Pisgah National Forest, a project that is expected to take about two weeks to finish.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is one step closer to drafting its new action plan following a series of seven regional meetings.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation recently welcomed Bronwyn Lance to the nonprofit organization’s Council of Advisors.