The following is a message from the American Hiking Society:
HELP FUND YOUR TRAILS
Urge Congress to help increase funding for trails and recreation! Visit http://www.americanhiking.org/policy/write.html to send a letter to your Representative and Senators today. Congress is currently working on its budget proposals for parks, forests, trails, and recreation programs for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2005). Unfortunately, the outlook for trails and trail lands in the Interior budget is bleak. A House-Senate conference committee recently reached agreement on a fiscal 2005 Congressional budget that includes a $200 million decrease for natural resources spending. The President’s proposed budget also includes reductions for many critical trail and recreation programs.
Congress needs to hear from you NOW about the importance of adequately funding our trails.
American Hiking recommends the following appropriations:
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$13 million for the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program.
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$10 million for the eighteen national scenic and historic trails administered by the National Park Service, plus $1.25 million for a Geographic Information System network for the National Trails System.
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$300 million for Recreation Management, Heritage and Wilderness, and $85 million for Capital Improvement and Maintenance for Trails in the USDA Forest Service.
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$70 million for Recreation Management, and $58 million for the National Landscape Conservation System in the Bureau of Land Management.
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$450 million for the Federal side of the Land and Water Conservation Fund; $300 million for Stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund.
In order for Americans to enjoy the outdoors, we need protected open spaces and well-maintained trails and recreation facilities. Increased funding for trails and recreation benefits the environment, economy, public health, and communities nationwide. To write your Representative and Senators directly via email, visit http://www.americanhiking.org/policy/write.html adding a paragraph to personalize your request. If you know your Congress Members are supportive of trails, thank them for their past support, and ask them to help fund our trails in the upcoming Interior Appropriations bill.
Federal funding for trails and recreation on our public lands is one of American Hiking Society’s top policy priorities every year. We will keep pushing Congress and the federal agencies to increase funding for these programs to ensure that trails and trail lands are protected and available for future generations of hikers and all Americans.
Tha Wookie