The mission of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation is to help improve, conserve, maintain, protect, preserve and restore the Allegheny County Parks facilities and open spaces and to support educational, recreational, natural and cultural activities. The Parks Foundation assists in the transformation of the Allegheny County Parks by assembling resources, improving assets, and mobilizing public and private stakeholders to advance strategies and aspirations to make the parks signature assets in Southwestern Pennsylvania. With nine parks encompassing 12,000 acres, Allegheny County is home to one of the largest regional park systems in the country. The nine Allegheny County parks are Boyce, Deer Lakes, Harrison Hills, Hartwood Acres, North, Round Hill, Settlers Cabin, South and White Oak. Allegheny County Parks offer year-round recreation, with 279 facilities to rent, 2 golf courses, 4 pools, 2 skating rinks, 1 ski slope, 4 lakes, 23 creeks and streams, and more than 100 miles of trails. A professional, statistically valid survey of park users and the general public undertaken by the Allegheny County Parks Foundation in 2016 estimated that there were approximately 22 million visitations per year to all of the nine Allegheny County parks, underscoring their value to the residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Allegheny County Parks Foundation was incorporated in 2007 with the endorsement of County Executive Dan Onorato with the intent to help achieve some of the many goals and recommendations in the 2002 Allegheny County Parks Comprehensive Master Plan. The Allegheny County Parks Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of private sector, county, community and philanthropic leaders. The Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent organization.