National Forest System Trail Stewardship Partner Funding 2021 Projects Selected

The National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service is pleased to announce 48 funded projects.

The National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service is pleased to announce 48 funded projects. Over 2,700 miles of National Forest System trails will be maintained this year through the National Forest System Trail Stewardship Partner Funding Program. These trail projects are more important this year than ever before. Land management agencies like the Forest Service are welcoming unprecedented numbers of visitors to recreate on National Forest System trails and more communities nationwide are discovering the emotional, physical, and economic benefits of outdoor recreation. The projects also offer opportunities for volunteers and organizations to participate in trail stewardship in many different ways.

Projects for the 2021 field season were selected thru a collaborative process by the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance, American Trails, American Hiking Society, Back Country Horsemen of America, International Mountain Bicycling Association, American Motorcyclists Association, and the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council.

For the past 5 years, the Trail Stewardship Partner Funding Program has helped the Forest Service carry out the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act (PL 114-245) of 2016 and the National Strategy for a Sustainable Trail System. The program has provided grant funding to trail stewardship organizations to achieve more sustainable National Forest System trails and trail systems that are socially relevant, economically viable, and that support ecological resiliency.

Highlights of the program include over $2,156,000 million in matching cash contributions and over $3,870,000 million in in-kind volunteer labor and equipment contributions. The past 117 funded projects have facilitated over 12,200 volunteers and staff maintaining over 4,650 miles of trail. That’s a 6:1 return on the investment of public funds. Tens of thousands of trees have also been cleared, hundreds of signs have been replaced, and thousands of drainage features have been cleaned and repaired through these volunteer and partner efforts.

This year, even bigger results are anticipated. The $547,000 funding the 48 projects will generate an estimated 2,709 miles of trail maintained by over 6,700 volunteers and staff; contributing $1,144,779 in cash and $2,521,086 in-kind contributions. That’s nearly a 7:1 expected return on investment of public funds.

Trail Stewardship Partner Funding

2021 Key Facts

Return on investment from cash and in-kind contributions 7:1
48 projects funded, totaling $547,689
92 proposals received, totaling over $1,000,000
Projects selected in 8 of 10 Forest Service
Four projects spanned multiple regions

Region	Proposed	Selected	Region	Proposed	Selected	Region	Proposed	Selected
Region 1	5	3	Region 2	17	11	Region 3	15	9
Region 4	16	7	Region 5	20	8	Region 6	6	4
Region 8	11	7	Region 9	7	3	Region 10	1	0

Details	Projects Proposed	Projects Selected	% of Total Proposed in Selected Projects[HMF1]
$ Match (dollars)	$1,512,382	$1,144,779	76%
In-Kind Match (dollars)	$3,067,285	$2,521,086	82%
# of Volunteers	7,441	6,504	87%
# of Volunteer Hrs.	105,211	89,135	85%
# of Staff/Crew	383	203	53%
# of Staff/Crew Hrs.	56,006	39,139	70%
Miles of Trail Maintained	3,126	2,709	87%

Randy Welsh, Executive Director of NWSA said, “We were able to fund more than half of the projects which contained over 80% of the potential accomplishments from all the projects submitted. We look forward to a lot of wonderful volunteer engagement and trail maintenance work to be completed this summer and fall.”

Brenda Yankoviak, USDA Forest Service National Trail Program Manager adds that, “Investing in the Trail Stewardship Partner Funding program has proved to be an excellent way to meet the goals of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act and the National Strategy for a Sustainable Trail System—to increase the collective capacity to maintain trails and increase the number of sustainable trails.”

Proposed Timeline: Work to be Completed between May and December 2021

Additional information on the Trail Partner Funding is found at www.wildernessalliance.org/funding_programs

Organizations Receiving NFS Trail Partner Funding in 2021

American Endurance Ride	Nevada County Woods Riders
Arizona Wild Arnold Rim Trail	New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors
Ascend Wilderness Experience	Northeast Tennessee Economic Development
BCHA – Gila Chapter	Overland Mountain Bike
BCHA - San Joaquin-Sierra Chapter	Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
BCHA - Virginia Highlands Chapter	Roaring Fork Outdoors Volunteers
Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation	Routt County Riders
Camp Grier	Santa Fe Fat Tire Society
Colorado Fourteeners	Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Continental Divide Trail Coalition	Silver Threaders Club
Cottonwood Canyons Foundation	Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists
Durango Trails	Source One Serenity
Enchanted Circle Trails	Toulomne River Trust
Friends of Panthertown	Tucson Off-Road Cyclists
Friends of Pathways	Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado
Green Mountain Club	Wallowa Mountain Hells Canyon
Headwaters Trail Alliance	Washington Trail Association
Idaho Trails Association	White Mountain Trail Collective
LaVeta Trails	Wild Alabama
Love in Motion, Puerto Rico	Wildlands Restoration
Mammoth Lake Recreation	Wounded Soldiers and Families
Mountain Bike the Tetons	Yavapai Trails
National Forest Foundation - Gunnison CO	Yosemite South Gate Trails
National Forest Foundation - Sawtooth

Questions can be addressed to Randy Welsh, Executive Director, National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance, at [email protected] or at 801-808-2167.