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Supporters ask for $3.5 million funding increase for RTCA program

National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program— Coalition Priorities for 2008-09.

From Rivers & Trails Coalition

The Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program is a technical assistance program of the National Park Service (NPS) that implements the natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation mission of the NPS to states and local communities. RTCA yields enormous conservation and recreation benefits by fostering partnerships between federal, state, and local entities. The resulting cooperative efforts restore rivers and wildlife habitat, develop trail and greenway networks, preserve open space, and revitalize communities— all contributing to improved quality of life and close-to-home recreation opportunities.

RTCA is a highly effective and cost efficient program. On average, the program partners protect nearly 700 miles of rivers, create more than 1,300 miles of trails, and conserve more than 60,500 acres of open space each year. Projects also promote transportation alternatives, brownfield redevelopment, youth conservation, and floodplain planning. RTCA plays a critical role in creating a nationwide network of parks and open spaces, fostering conservation partnerships, promoting volunteerism, and encouraging physical activity. Current demand for RTCA services greatly exceeds the program’s capacity.

Funding Status:
RTCA is a successful and popular technical assistance program that coordinates nearly 300 projects annually, but its funding has remained relatively flat during the last decade and lagged well behind the rate of inflation. As a result, the program’s real budget has declined significantly and resulted in substantial cuts to staff. Cuts have also reduced staff participation in on-the-ground projects, diminishing essential services of this field-based program. RTCA had 90 positions (FTE’s) in 2002, and currently has only 65 program staff in 2008.

RTCA receives .003 or less than a third of 1% of the total funding for the NPS, yet it succeeds in leveraging the minimal federal investment and multiplying this investment many times over in local, state, and partnership direct funding and in-kind matches. Each year, the modest amount of NPS funding for staff time has helped leverage millions of dollars from other sources for its projects.

The President’s budget for 2009 calls for a program budget decrease of $492,000 and a cut of 4 FTE’s. This is a far cry from last year’s budget which called for a $500,000 increase to provide technical assistance to connect trails to parks through new trail partnership projects, which the Rivers and Trails Coalition heartily supported. Even with the increase proposed last year, it would have still been well below the amount required to restore this program to its former status. To now see a potential cut of a half million in addition to that loss would be devastating to this program.

The RTCA program budget should be increased by $3.5 million in 2009 to $12 million to remedy the program's continued steady erosion, compensate for losses due to inflation, and enable the program to respond effectively and efficiently to growing needs and opportunities in communities throughout the country.

Funding Request:

• FY 2008 Appropriation: $8.522 million
• FY 2009 Administration budget request: $8.5 decreased to $8.1 million
• FY 2009 Rivers & Trails Coalition request: $3.5 million increase for $12 million
  

• The official NPS budget request for FY2009, aka "the Greenbook" is on-line at: http://data2.itc.nps.gov/budgetweb/downloads/fy_2009_greenbook.pdf. The entry pertinent to RTCA is principally on pages NR&P-14 through 17.
• The "Green Budget" that was recently put forward by various NGOs is on the web at http://www.saveourenvironment.org/greenbudget2009.pdf. RTCA can be found on Page 64.

To learn more about the RTCA program, including current projects, visit http://www.nps.gov/rtca" www.nps.gov/rtca.

To learn more about the Rivers & Trails Coalition, contact Rich Dolesh, Coalition Chair, at rdolesh@nrpa.org or 202-887-0290.

Rivers & Trails Coalition

The Accokeek Foundation
American Canoe Association
American Hiking Society
American Outdoors
American Rivers American Society of Landscape Architects
American Trails
American Volkssport Association
American Whitewater
Appalachian Mountain Club
Association of State Floodplain Managers
Bay Circuit Alliance
Bicycle Federation of America
Bikes Belong Coalition
Conservation District of Southern Nevada
East Coast Greenway Alliance
International Mountain
Bicycling Association
Jacksonville Woodlands Association
Land Legacy
Land Trust Alliance
League of American Bicyclists
National Association of Service & Conservation Corps
National Audubon Society
National Parks Conservation Association
National Recreation and Park Association
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
New York Parks and Conservation Association
North American Water Trails
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor Coalition
Outdoor Industry Association
Outside Las Vegas Foundation
Parks & Trails New York
Partnership for the National Trails System
Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers
Rails to Trails Conservancy
River Network
Scenic America
South Carolina Dept. of Parks,
Recreation, and Tourism
Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association
Student Conservation Association
Trout Unlimited
Walk Boston
Washington Area Bicyclist Association
Washington Trails Association
Washington Water
Trails Association

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