Trails would be trimmed in Administration's FY 07 budget

From the American Hiking Society
See more details and analysis from the National Recreation & Park Association

President Bush released the Administration's Fiscal Year 2007 (Oct 2006 - Sept 2007) budget earlier this week, kicking off the federal budget cycle. Federal land management agencies face austere budget requests for FY 07, with several trail and recreation programs taking a big hit.

The proposed FY07 budget includes:

• $100 million cut for the National Park Service (although it includes a $24 million increase for park operations);

• $500,000 cut to the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program;

• termination of the stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a critical source of funding for close-to-home parks and recreation;

• $91 million for the federal side of LWCF, down from approx. $115 million in FY 06. This essential program funds land acquisition for parks, trails, forests, and other public lands;

• $15 million cut to Forest Service Capital Improvement and Maintenance for trails;

• 4% cut to Forest Service Recreation, Wilderness and Heritage programs down to $250.8 million.

• -$1.36 million cut to Bureau of Land Management Recreation and Wilderness management.

• deep cuts to the National Landscape Conservation System which will directly affect the BLM's ability to protect the cultural and ecological values, maintain interpretative facilities, and ensure visitor safety and security among these special 26 million acres.

The House and Senate will prepare their budgets (which may or may not match the President's) over the next several months and then they will "conference" later in the year to reconcile the differences and pass a final budget in the fall.

See the National Recreation and Park Association Summary and Analysis of the Proposed 2007 Federal Budget