"
I have devoted my professional life to protecting, conserving and stewarding land and water resources all across North America. I love the outdoors and want to work to conserve these resources for future generations to enjoy."
Chuck Flink has been passionate about the conservation and stewardship of the outdoors since he was a teenager. He enjoys hiking, biking, riding horseback and participating in all types of outdoor adventures. Some of his most enjoyable outdoors experiences include, swimming with the native pink dolphin in the Orinco River in southern Venezuela, exploring by scuba the Blue Hole off the coast of Belize, hiking around the Maroon Bells near Aspen, Colorado, and bicycling along the greenway system in the Czech Republic. "I have devoted my professional life to protecting, conserving and stewarding land and water resources all across North America. I love the outdoors and want to work to conserve these resources for future generations to enjoy." The company that he founded and has owned for the past 25 years, Greenways Incorporated, was an outgrowth of his personal and professional interests. Greenways Inc. afforded Chuck a unique opportunity to become part and parcel of the modern American Greenway movement. Chuck co-authored two of the most influential trade books that have defined greenways and multi-use trails: Greenways A Guide to Planning, Design and Development and Trails for the Twenty-First Century. Chuck has been an active volunteer for the past two decades, serving as the inaugural Chair of the Board for American Trails (1989-1992), as a Trustee and Chair of the East Coast Greenway Alliance (1999-present) and on the North Carolina Greenways Commission.
Chuck Flink is a landscape architect and a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects. He has been involved in greenway, open space, park, bicycle, pedestrian and green infrastructure planning and design for the past 27 years. Chuck is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading greenway experts having completed plans for projects in 225 communities within 35 states. He has also provided consulting services to clients in Argentina, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Japan and St. Croix, USVI. He is a graduate of the College of Design at North Carolina State University, and was named the Outstanding Alumnus of the College in 2006. Chuck has been featured in prominent national and international publications including National Geographic, Landscape Architecture, Walking, American Planning, LA China, Landscape Architecture China, Rails-to-Trails, Good Housekeeping, Southern Living, Business Journal and American City County. Chuck has lectured on the planning, design and implementation of greenways and green infrastructure at more than 200 national and international conferences and is a sought after speaker. He is an award winning planner and designer, who has garnered more than 35 professional awards for his work, including the 1995 Environmental Excellence Award from the U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration for his work on the Swift Creek Recycled Greenway, and the 2001 Merit Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for his work on the Grand Canyon Greenway.
Recent Projects
Grand Canyon Greenway
Chuck Flink, in partnership with Alta Principal Jeff Olson, served as the lead landscape architect for a 72-mile system of rim top trails at Grand Canyon National Park. During a ten-year period, from 1997 to 2007, Chuck personally designed all six phases of the greenway system that is constructed and in place today. This project has received numerous awards, including the American Society of Landscape Architects, the First Annual Harvey Bell Memorial Award for Outstanding Innovation in Trail Design from the Western Trail Builders Association, and the National Accessibility Leadership Award from the Department of the Interior.
Charleston County Greenbelt Plan
Chuck Flink served as lead planner and author of the Charleston County Greenbelt Plan. Since the plan was adopted in June 2006, more than 18,000 acres of native Lowcountry lands and waters have been conserved. This phenomenal success has been realized as a result of the plan crafted by Chuck, which depicts an aggressive program of action for conserving and stewarding one third of the land base of the County (200,000 acres). This project received the 2006 Large Jurisdiction Award from the South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association for Outstanding Planning work.
Chimney Rock State Park Master Plan
Chuck Flink served as lead planner and author for the Chimney Rock State Park Master Plan. The study area for this master plan encompassed 15,000 acres of mountainous, highly sensitive and ecologically unique lands. The Master Plan for the State Park included an extensive inventory and analysis of the study area, a 25-year program of facility development that will include a new Visitor Center, and a business plan that defines operational and funding strategies for the park. Chuck worked closely with the Division of State Parks staff, residents of Chimney Rock Village and the Town of Lake Lure, and user groups to craft a functional master plan that conserves and protects the resources of the park, while opening these areas to public access and use.
Greater Grand Forks Greenway
Chuck Flink was the lead planner and designer for the 2,200 acre Red River Greenway in Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Chuck was initially hired by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1997 to develop a conceptual master plan for the greenway in response to the Spring flood. He continued working on the project for the next three years, laying out a comprehensive linear park master plan for the entire greenway, developing an operations program and defining the funding strategy. This project received an Honor Award from the Tri-State Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and is defined by the US Army Corps of Engineers as the nation's best example of flood recovery.
