Trails

What this funds

The Forest Service has designated trail administrator positions for five National Scenic and Historic Trails (NSHTs) - Arizona, Continental Divide, Florida, Pacific Crest, and Pacific Northwest - and manages portions of 11 additional NSHTs on NFS lands in cooperation with Department of the Interior (DOI), State and county governments, and private partners. The Trail Administrator position for the Nez Perce (Ne-Mee-Poo) is currently vacant. Funding for administration and management of these trails is included within the Capital Improvement and Maintenance (CIM) Trails appropriation. Land acquisition for trails is primarily funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The 800-mile Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZNST) showcases the full range of Arizona's landscapes, from Sonoran Desert to high alpine forests, connecting deserts, mountains, of the AZNST is on Federal land, including Grand Canyon National Park and three other National Park Service (NPS) units, four National Forests, and two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field offices. Partners include the Arizona Trail Association, other local trail organizations, Federal agencies, State and local governments, Tribes, and conservation In FY 2025, the Forest Service signed the AZNST Comprehensive Plan 26, providing a unified framework for coordinated management and implementation across all jurisdictions. A total of 1,940 volunteers contributed 18,440 hours of work in support of the AZNST. The AZNST continues to be affected by wildfires. In FY 2025, wildfires forced temporary closures of 144 miles of the AZNST and burned 37 miles of trail. Twenty-five miles of the AZNST are still closed in Grand Canyon National Park because of the Dragon Bravo Fire. The program is integrating Comprehensive Plan direction into post-fire recovery, reroute planning, and water reliability projects, while continuing to rely on strong partnerships and a full-time Trail Administrator to maintain public access, resource protection, and safe, high quality recreation experiences along the corridor. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) is a 3,100-mile trail that runs along the spine of the Rocky Mountains from Mexico to Canada. It connects 20 national forests, three national parks, two national monuments, 13 BLM field offices, and several historic sites. About 95 percent of the trail is located on public lands; however, many trail segments are currently co-located along open roads. Easements are lacking on numerous private and State land parcels. Work has continued towards acquiring lands to eliminate gaps between sections of the trail and relocate existing portions of the trail. This includes working with the Continental Divide Tail Coalition (CDTC) on identifying opportunities to increase capacity for land acquisition and public land access for the CDT. Partners include the Continental Divide Foundation, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Montana Conservation Corps, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, Southwest Conservation Corps, Back Country Horsemen, and numerous other Federal, State, and local nongovernmental organizations. The entire CDT on NFS land (approximately 2,200 miles) is a "Secretarially designated" priority area for trail maintenance under the 2016 Trails Stewardship Act. In FY 2025 the CDT program accomplished the following: ' Established five-year interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines a unified management and administration strategy for the CDNST. Service Regional Foresters, and the Board Chair of the CDTC. ' Executed a Multi-Year Legacy Restoration Fund Agreement with the Continental Divide Coalition to help complete over 350 miles of Deferred maintenance. This includes piloting the first CDT pro-crew, successfully contracting heritage surveyors to support GAOA - Legacy Restoration Fund projects and hiring partner support staff. ' Completed Phase II of CDT centerline data cleanup for Montana national forests and established a formal agreement with the State of Colorado to complete Phase III of CDT centerline data cleanup in the Colorado and Wyoming Forests. ' Published CDT Suppression Repair Guidelines 27, which has been used by 100 percent of units with previous and currently active wildfires. ' Advanced CDT completion to 96 percent of its 3,100-mile corridor, with 85 miles of ' Conducted a full-scale geospatial analysis of private land ownership across all 100+ counties intersecting the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail. This effort identified over 4,200 individual private parcels impacting trail continuity, access, and management. The analysis enabled prioritization of high-risk segments for future easement negotiations, and informed strategic land acquisition planning with State ' Utilizing federally allocated funds, constructed 18 new miles, and maintained 191 The Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST) consists of a 1,500-mile planning corridor stretching from Big Cypress National Preserve in the Everglades National Park to Gulf Islands National Seashore in the panhandle of Florida. Currently, 1,145 miles of certified FNST exist, with roughly 378 miles of gaps in the trail. Partners include the Florida Trail Association (FTA), NPS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), universities, and nearly all public land management State agencies, county, and local governments in Florida. The Forest Service, together with Florida Trail Coalition partners, continues to carry out the goals of the Florida National Scenic Trail Five-Year Strategic Plan. In FY 2025, the FNST partnership maintained 1,187 miles of trail, completed 1,768 feet of infrastructure replacement or new construction, and maintained over 1,903 feet of existing bridges or boardwalks. Non-profit partners contributed $781,053 through 23,322 hours of volunteer labor directly to the FNST. The FNST Program successfully partnered with State, federal, non-profit and youth organizations to accomplish several critical infrastructure projects along the Florida Trail on both partner-managed and NFS lands. These multi-agency, partner, and volunteer projects addressed safety, access, and deferred maintenance Thousands of volunteer hours, eight challenge cost share agreements, and collaborative support through land management agencies can be highlighted through the following ' On the Apalachicola District, the FNST program, together with the FTA and Franklin's Promise Coalition (AmeriCorps partner), completed 1,500 ft of puncheon 28 construction in Shular Bay. This complex location required crews to hike materials over a mile in and out while working in extremely wet and boggy conditions. This project will continue in FY 2026 and be one of the longest segments of puncheon on ' The FTA and local high school students completed a boardwalk rebuild in the Osceola ' The FTA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection completed a 75ft bridge over Robinson Branch spanning the Suwannee River in Big Shoals State Park. ' The FTA and local high school students completed a boardwalk rebuild in the Osceola ' The program has made steady progress in implementing a Natural Resource Damage Assessment grant, funded from the Deep-Water Horizon oil spill settlement, to construct a series of boardwalks and bridges on the FNST in St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. This multi-agency and partner effort will close a gap i

Extracted from Forest Service, p. 95. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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