ON THE TRAIL WITH MIKE SCHNEIDER Premieres on NJTV 7/13

Just as the Appalachian Trail reaches its 95th Anniversary, NJTV, New Jersey's public television network, announces a new series that celebrates the great outdoors, ON THE TRAIL WITH MIKE SCHNEIDER . Hosted by Emmy award-winning journalist Mike Schneider, the series will guide viewers through the flora, wildlife, and intense environmental battles to save some of America's most iconic vistas.

On the Trail with Mike Schneider premieres Wednesday, July 13 at 8pm on NJTV. In the pilot episode, Schneider hikes through New Jersey's most remote region, the Delaware Water Gap. He hikes up Mount Tamany, the Gap's highest peak, and spends some time at a real-life ghost town with its boarded-up homes rotting away a century later, now surrounded by diverse wildlife. There he uncovers a controversial political decision that saved the land but cost thousands of people their homes.

Schneider also traverses the state border and follows the Appalachian Trail into Palisades Interstate Parklands, where the New York and New Jersey Trail Conference, one of the oldest environmental groups in the US, has just completed a major land rehabilitation and educational project in Bear Mountain. He heads south along the Hudson, to show the trails that follow the magnificent Palisades, discovering the Revolutionary War trail that changed the course of that conflict.

Along the way, Schneider talks to fellow hikers who share their personal trail experiences, conservationists, the executive director of The New York and New Jersey Trail Conference, and the executive director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, who oversees Bear Mountain and Harriman -- parks that pre-date the National Parks.

"This series combines my two passions of journalism and hiking," said Schneider. "I explore the great outdoors with an inquiring mind, aiming to rouse viewers' CURIOSITY so they will want to explore the wild places in their own backyards. Ending our initial hike in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge, it's amazing how all this 'wilderness' is really closer than you think."

"On the Trail with Mike Schneider is exactly the kind of local programming NJTV strives to offer," said NJTV's General manager John Servidio. "It's a smart, entertaining look at New Jersey from a unique perspective, one that spotlights the state's wild areas while digging deeper into our history and environmental issues."

On the Trail with Mike Schneider is a co-production of Public Media NJ, Inc. and Mike Schneider LLC. Funding provided by The Suez Group.

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