Milwaukee, WI (March 31, 2017) – The Eastern Region is inviting the public to help identify trails that will be part of a U.S. Forest Service effort with partners and volunteers to increase the pace of trail maintenance.
Nationwide, the Forest Service will select nine to 15 priority areas among its nine regions where a backlog in trail maintenance contributed to reduced access, potential harm to natural resources or trail users and/or has the potential for increased future deferred maintenance costs.
The Eastern Region manages more than16,000 miles of trails enjoyed by approximately 12 million users each year. Last year, in the region, volunteers and partner groups contributed more than 126,000 hours in trail maintenance and repair with an estimated value of over $2.9 million.
“In the East we enjoy incredible support from our forest visitors, both in terms of visitation and volunteer efforts to keep our trails open,” said Eastern Regional Forester Kathleen Atkinson. “Nobody knows our trails better than those who use them, so I am encouraging those same visitors to help us identify the where future investments in maintenance should take place.”
The Eastern Region has until April 20 to submit at least three regional proposals to National Headquarters. Those proposals will be weighed against proposal submitted by other Forest Service regions.
The trail maintenance effort is outlined in the National Forest System Sustainable Trails Act of 2016 and aims to increase trail maintenance by volunteers and partners by the end of 2018.
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The selected sites will be part of the initial focus that will include a mosaic of areas with known trail maintenance needs that include areas near urban and remote areas, such as wilderness, are of varying sizes and trail lengths, are motorized and nonmotorized, and those that incorporate a varied combination of partner and volunteer approaches and solutions.
The Forest Service manages more than 158,000 miles of trail – the largest trail system in the nation – providing motorized and nonmotorized trail access across 154 national forests and grasslands. These Forest Service trails are well loved and highly used with more than 84 million trail visits annually, helping to support mostly rural economies.
The Forest Service receives widespread support from tens of thousands of volunteers and partners each year who, in 2015, contributed nearly 1.4 million hours – a value of about $31.6 million – in maintenance and repair of nearly 30,000 miles of trails.
However, limited funding compounded by the rising cost of wildfire operations, has resulted in less than 25 percent of Forest Service trails meeting all of the agency’s standards for safety, quality recreation and economic and environmental sustainability. The remaining trails meet standard to varying degrees.
To provide ideas and suggestions on potential priority areas and approaches for incorporating increased trail maintenance assistance from partners and volunteers, contact the Region 9 Regional Trail Program Manager Leon LaVigne (414-297-1313; [email protected]) by April 18, 2017.The U.S. Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a mission of sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Forest Service’s Eastern Region includes 20 states in the Midwest and East, stretching from Maine, to Maryland, to Missouri, to Minnesota. There are 17 national forests and one national tallgrass prairie in the Eastern Region. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R9.
The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For more information, visit www.fs.fed.us.
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