WTA Joins with Rep. Kim Schrier to Promote Funding for Trails and Roads

WTA and leaders from the recreation community in Washington gathered along the I-90 corridor on June 4 to promote the introduction of the Legacy Roads and Trails Act in Congress and the benefits it offers Washington’s public lands. 

WTA’s Chief Executive Officer Jill Simmons joined Rep. Kim Schrier at the Snoqualmie Ranger Station to promote the Legacy Roads and Trails legislation, which Rep. Schrier introduced in Congress, and to discuss how the bill would provide funding for trails and roads in need of repair.  

WTA Chief Executive Officer Jill Simmons talks about the benefits of the Legacy Roads and Trails Act to Washington's public lands. Photo by Andrea Imler.

The Legacy Roads and Trails program has been a way to pay for improvements to forest roads and trails since 2007. From 2008 to 2012, the program provided $300 million to the Forest Service to perform maintenance on roads and trails across the country. It funded 11,000 miles of trail improvements and 500 fish passage sites, and addressed issues on 5,000 miles of roads through maintenance or decommissioning. Since 2019, the program has not received dedicated funding from Congress. 

This bill would authorize the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program through 2030, requiring the Forest Service to develop a national strategy to carry out the program. The strategy would focus on deferred maintenance, urgent road repairs and trail relocation and fish passage restoration. 

Rep. Schrier’s leadership has been crucial in urging Congress to invest in outdoor recreation. Trails and outdoor recreation are a key economic driver in Washington, supporting $26.5 billion in annual expenditures and 264,000 jobs. Please join us by taking action at the bottom of this page to thank Rep. Schrier for her leadership in supporting funding for outdoor recreation. 

After the press conference, members of the public joined Rep. Schrier, WTA staff and other recreation leaders in the state on a hike of the Garfield Ledges Trail, which WTA volunteers helped to build in 2019.

We have learned during the pandemic how important spending time in nature is for our mental and physical wellbeing and how opportunities to explore the outdoors help to recharge our hearts, minds and bodies. The Legacy Roads and Trails Act offers an opportunity to help get more people outside. Join us in thanking Rep. Schrier for introducing the Legacy Roads and Trails Act in Congress!