USFS budget cuts

[balzaccom]

This is an excellent video on the coming financial crunch for the department that maintains and supervises our trails and wildernesses. Next year's budget calls for massive cuts in their funding.

https://youtu.be/d24PTLHEu_Q

And one place they are going to be cutting is in the hiring of seasonal trail crews---the people who maintain the trail systems we all use. So, yes, those fallen trees, strom damage, and even clean up of over-used sites will not happen on any appreciable level in 2025.

Sure, you can write your newly elected congressperson to complain. See what that does. But you can also volunteer where you hike, and even where you don't hike, to maintain the mountains you love. We've been doing this for years. Highly recommended.

 

[SteveR]

And one place they are going to be cutting is in the hiring of seasonal trail crews---the people who maintain the trail systems we all use. So, yes, those fallen trees, strom damage, and even clean up of over-used sites will not happen on any appreciable level in 2025.

Sure, you can write your newly elected congressperson to complain. See what that does. But you can also volunteer where you hike, and even where you don't hike, to maintain the mountains you love. We've been doing this for years. Highly recommended.

In Alberta parks and recreation areas, we've seen a shift from trail building and maintenance by paid crews, to volunteer organizations taking on more of that responsibility, with government agencies looking after infrastructure needs such as parking lots, outhouses etc. Fortunately, financial support is usually provided to assist these groups in the good work that they do. Personally, I think that it makes sense to have the user groups take on more of that role, although as they get more and more involved, it can mean having to hire paid staff to take some of the workload off of the volunteers. So, full circle in a way.