The memory of a Georgia hiker’s disappearance and death resonates one year later in a bundle of new park safety procedures, and traffic on the trails has increased.

Meredith Emerson, a 24-year-old former University student noted for her academic endeavors and love for the outdoors, disappeared from Blood Mountain Trail in Blairsville on New Year’s Day 2008.

Six days after friends and family began searching for the missing hiker and her case garnered national attention, her body was recovered in the mountains of North Georgia on Jan. 7, 2008.

A drifter, Gary Michael Hilton, later plead guilty to kidnapping and murdering Emerson. He is serving a life term and was extradited to Florida for the murder of a nurse.

Since Emerson’s death, efforts have been made to increase hiker awareness. North Georgia and Athens area parks and recreation centers have followed the trend.

Jerry Brown, lodge manager at Unicoi State Park in Helen, said the park began using GPS locators after Emerson’s death. The park is close to Blood Mountain, which is where Emerson disappeared.

“We have 24-hour security,” he said. “We have law enforcement that makes rounds every day.”

He also said the park now has “first responders” on property that are trained for emergency medical services.

Changes were also made in the park’s administrative duties.

“We’ve developed a safety committee,” Brown said. “They review any safety concerns and come up with action plans.”

Other parks focus on preparing hikers prior to their trips.

“We encourage people to go with other people and leave an itinerary with someone,” said David Foot, manager of Vogel State Park, which is on the Blood Mountain trail. He said the park encourages hikers to carry a survival kit and park officials work with forest services to monitor the trail.

Despite heightened fears and concerns, Vogel has seen an increase in hikers.

“Our hiking traffic increased this year to the highest,” Foot said.

Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services encompass 17 local recreational parks.

According to their Web site, department goals for the past year included a fund for park safety initiatives.

This program included adding 911 emergency call boxes and additional security staff. They also installed a security monitoring/alarm system. Calls to ACC Leisure Services were not returned as of Tuesday night.

To preserve Emerson’s story, a group of friends formed Right to Hike, a non-profit organization that promotes hiker safety, awareness and education. Right to Hike began their initiatives in April 2008.

“We wanted a way to continue her memory,” said Julia Karrenbauer, a University alumna and Emerson’s former roommate. “Someone else had the last word on her life, but we wanted someone else to have the last word on her memory.”

The group hosted a 5K run in Emerson’s honor in October 2008.

Donations to the group fund GPS transmitters, devices that allow hikers to communicate with emergency personnel. The transmitters are lent out to hikers. “Cell phones don’t always work on the trails,” said Karrenbauer. “The first GPS locators we donated were in the Blairsville area where she was taken.”

She also said that she and Emerson often visited Athens parks and trails as University students.

“We have future plans to expand safety devices in the Athens area and all of North Georgia,” Karrenbauer said.

They also fund the Meredith Hope Emerson Memorial Award- for Study Abroad – created by the romance languages department – a scholarship that affords one University student annually with a study abroad experience in a French-speaking country.

“We donated $5,000 to her scholarship in November,” Karrenbauer said.

Campus organizations such as Safe Campuses Now feature Meredith Emerson’s story on their Web site.

The site features opportunities for free self-defense classes as well as a host of programs and events about safety and awareness. As of Tuesday, attempts to reach Safe Campuses Now were unsuccessful.

To the University students, Karrenbauer said she leaves advice.

“Learn from the experience. Have a second thought about going out alone. University students should take that away from their own,” she said. “Be cautious.”