Congress works to fund trails in 2027 and beyond — you can help

Funding is critical to protect our national public lands and keep them open for people to enjoy. That’s why at WTA we are heartened to see Congress’s recent work — including a key vote in a Senate committee earlier today — to fund trails in 2027 and beyond.

• Ask Congress to fund national parks and forests in 2027
• Take 60 seconds to send a message, asking Congress to provide the funding our outdoor places need in the 2027 national budget.

Congress is working on the federal budget for fiscal year 2027. The U.S. House of Representatives’ proposed budget rejects the deep cuts to funding for the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service requested by the White House. WTA is glad to see this and will keep tracking the budget as it goes from draft to final version.

The Legacy Restoration Fund has improved trails around the state, including the popular trail to Snow Lake and less-traveled trails in the Entiat that were in danger of falling off the map. Photo by trip reporter Alpine Wanderer

The Legacy Restoration Fund did great work until it expired

Another piece of funding we are watching closely is the Legacy Restoration Fund, a landmark investment that Congress made in our national public lands in 2020. The Legacy Restoration Fund expired in 2025, but bipartisan members in the Senate and House of Representatives are working to revive it. The Legacy Restoration Fund addresses something that the annual budget does not: the maintenance backlog.

Combined, the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and other federal land management agencies face a $41 billion backlog of deferred maintenance projects. If you enjoy getting outside on public lands, you have probably experienced the maintenance backlog in the form of blocked trails, broken trail bridges, rough or unsafe roads and campgrounds and bathrooms that need repairs.

For the 5 years the Legacy Restoration Fund was in action, it made it possible to reopen access to the Big Four Ice Caves trail, improve the popular Denny Creek trailhead, recover fire-damaged trails in the Entiat River Valley and so much more.  

Bipartisan work to revive this funding

Right now, Congress is working collaboratively to extend the Legacy Restoration Fund into the future. Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee moved their version of the bill to reauthorize the Legacy Restoration Fund forward by voting it out of committee with unanimous bipartisan support. We are seeing similar momentum in the House of Representatives. Last week, leaders in the House Committee on Natural Resources introduced the Great American Outdoors Act 250 with the same goal of renewing the Legacy Restoration Fund. The House version was introduced with sponsorship from dozens of bipartisan members of Congress. 

WTA supports both the Senate’s America the Beautiful Act and the House’s Great American Outdoors Act 250. WTA staff have been asking Congress to renew this deferred maintenance funding for several years. Thank you to everyone who has previously joined this effort by signing petitions and contacting your lawmakers about the importance of maintaining our national public lands. Public support for these bills matters, and reauthorizing this funding will have noticeable impacts locally.

If deferred maintenance funding is signed into law, there are already projects in line. For instance, Olympic National Forest previously requested over $2 million dollars to help fix trails and trail bridges across the national forest, where 30 trail bridges are in need of replacement. If the Legacy Restoration Fund is renewed and this highly ranked project is funded, the U.S. Forest Service could effectively reopen parts of the Olympics that have slipped out of the public’s reach due to disrepair.

We will keep tracking the Legacy Restoration Fund, and other sources of state and federal funding that affect your ability to get outside. Sign up for WTA’s action alerts to be the first to learn updates and opportunities to take action. 

Funding the maintenance backlog will put parts of Olympic National Forest back within the public’s reach. Photo of East Fork Quinault River Trail by trip reporter by Reed T (left) and Enchanted Valley by trip reporter splitmyplants (right).