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History and facts about the National Trails System 40
Years of Connecting People to America's
Diverse History, Cultures, Landscapes,
and to One Another. From
US Department of the Interior THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM
America's National Trails System is one of the great conservation acts of Congress from the 1960s era that also included:
Today the National Trails System totals over 60,000 miles in all 50 states (longer than the Interstate Highway System) and is comprised of:
Traveling a National Trail brings you into direct contact with adventure, history, heritage, community, and nature. National Trails provide countless opportunities for healthful recreation in the fight against obesity. The National Trails System embodies many strands of America's natural, historic, and cultural heritage. On Scenic, Historic, and Recreation Trails you experience the great diversity of landscapes and ecosystems that comprise this great American land. Historic trails enable you to experience the rich tapestry of cultures and peoples that comprise our Nation and the many stories of pioneer travel, exploration, and struggles for civil and religious freedom that shaped our history (Native American, Hawaiian, Inuit, Hispanic, Anglo, African-American and Asian). Congressionally authorized National Scenic and Historic Trails are complex partnerships Various Federal agencies— primarily the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers— play key roles in administering and managing these trails, while the Federal Highway Administration has been an important source of funding for them. States are essential partners— especially where an entire trail is within one state as in Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, and Wisconsin— in helping to manage extensive sections of trails and, in Florida and Wisconsin, in acquiring rights-of-way and lands for them. The scenic and historic trails connect over 300 state parks. However, the bulk of the work of developing and maintaining these trails is done by volunteers coordinated by dozens of dedicated nonprofit trail organizations. A hallmark of the National Trails System is people-based stewardship of significant national natural and cultural resources. Volunteers— not paid professionals— often take the lead in nearly all aspects of trail resources inventorying and database construction, planning, development, interpretation, preservation, and maintenance. In 1968 this was a new way to care for public resources, and 40 years later it still is innovative and routinely leads to creative leveraging many times over of the Federal funding provided for these trails by Congress. In 2006 volunteers organized and guided by the non-profit partner trail organizations contributed more than 687,000 hours valued at $12,400,000 to help develop and sustain the national scenic and historic trails and the natural and cultural resources along them. This people-based approach to public land stewardship also involves communities linked by these trails so that the National Trails System has become a "culture of people-based community conservation." The National Trails System Act was signed into law October 2, 1968, yet forty years later only the initial two trails—; the Appalachian and Pacific Crest National Scenic Trails— are fully available for the public to experience from end to end. Despite recent progress in opening new miles on the Continental Divide, Florida, and Ice Age National Scenic Trails through the generosity of private land owners, organizations, corporations, State agencies, and other entities; the other six National Scenic Trails and all of the National Historic Trails are still, after many years of effort by citizen volunteers and public agency trail managers, in various stages of completion. Many miles of right-of-way need to be acquired for the public to be able to fully enjoy the National Scenic Trails and many sites and remnants remain to be preserved and fully interpreted for the public to fully understand and appreciate the National Historic Trails. Properly preserved Historic Trail resources evoke a sense of the past that helps visitors to appreciate how the events of long ago forged the way to the world of today. Although steady progress has been made to transform these trails from lines on maps to places in the landscape for people to learn from and enjoy, at the current pace it will be decades before most of them will be fully available for public use. For more information on the National Trails System and its 40-Year Anniversary: |  |
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Updated April 28, 2008
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