Los Compadres has spent close to $500,000 for projects in the northern section of Mission San José, according to Chairman of the Board Robert Downey. Photo provided

For more information, to donate or to join Los Compadres, call (210) 922-3218 or e-mail loscompadres@sbcglobal.net

SAN ANTONIO • San Antonio Missions National Historical Park’s proposal to construct a new trail linking the National Park to the Mission Trail is eligible to receive matching funds through the National Park Service Centennial Initiative. The proposal is eligible for federal matching funds through monies raised by the park’s friends group, Los Compadres de San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

The proposed hiking trail would link Mission San José with the hike and bike lanes of the Mission Trail, a road linking San Antonio’s five historic missions along the San Antonio River from the Alamo in downtown San Antonio to Mission Espada, the southernmost of the missions. The proposed new trail will increase recreational opportunities for visitors at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park by providing direct access to the San Antonio River and the hike and bike trails along it.

The proposed trail will be paved and handicapped accessible with informational wayside signs interpreting various aspects of daily life, agriculture and water control engineering accomplishments during the Spanish colonial period.

“Los Compadres is delighted to provide the matching funds for this exciting project. We have spent close to $500,000 for projects in the northern section of Mission San José and this project will provide yet another opportunity for visitors and school children to enjoy the history of our missions,” said Robert Downey, chairman of the Board. “This trail will show the historic connection of the mission to the San Antonio River and it will also tie in with the Mission Trails and the river improvement projects.”

The new hiking trail proposal is one of 201 proposals nationwide National Park Service (NPS) Director Mary Bomar and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced in Yosemite National Park to celebrate the anniversary of the NPS.“The National Park Service has, after a rigorous review, certified these projects as eligible for centennial challenge matching funds,” Bomar said. “The centennial challenge is a critical element in the National Park Centennial Initiative put forward by President Bush and unveiled by Secretary Kempthorne.

The full centennial initiative is a potential $3 billion investment in our national parks, two-thirds of it a public-private partnership of matching money.”

The president’s budget called for an additional $100 million a year for 10 years to be dedicated to bolster basic park operations, Bomar said. “The second part of the initiative is the centennial challenge — a funding mechanism to match up to $100 million a year over 10 years of public money with $100 million a year for 10 years in private donations,” she added.

Financial commitments to the first round of proposals exceeded the president’s challenge. “We have about $370 million in proposals with not $100 million in private commitments but $216 million committed from park visitors, friends groups and other partners,” Bomar said.

She concluded, “When history is written, the Centennial Initiative will be second only to the creation of the national park system itself.”

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was established in 1978 to preserve, restore and interpret the Spanish missions of San Antonio. The four mission churches still function as active parishes.