Talking to Congress Yields Results for the PCT and Trails

PCTA staff and board members traveled to Washington D.C. again this winter to meet with members of Congress and their staffs, agency partners and other trail, recreation and conservation groups.

Our annual “Hike the Hill” trip to the nation’s capital happened the first week of March. My apologies for the late recap. I would have reported sooner, but gravity got the better of me. The week after Hike the Hill, I had a downhill crash on my mountain bike. My left arm found its way between me and a rock. The rock won. I am now the proud parent of two titanium plates, 16 screws and two long scars on my forearm. I will have to avoid airport metal detectors, but I’ll always have a great story to tell in airport bars. Thankfully, the healing is going well, a minor setback at worst. 

Anyway, back to business.

Hike the Hill is sponsored by the American Hiking Society and the Partnership for the National Trails System. It’s an important milestone in our collective work to advocate and conserve the country’s public lands and trail networks.  

PCTA Board Members Kevin Bacon and Ashley Martinez attended as volunteers. Staff included CEO Megan Wargo, Director of Trail Operations Justin Kooyman and me. Over four days, we met with 30 members of the House and all six senators from PCT states. Our targets were key lawmakers in PCT states as well as members from outside PCT states with committee assignments in appropriations and public lands. We also met with key committee staffers from both political parties who are working on crucial public lands budgets and legislation.  

Hike the Hill is a huge part of our ongoing discussion with Congress. It gives us face time with members and their staffs and helps cement relationships for regular video calls, occasional local site visits and constant information sharing throughout the year.

“Hike the Hill is one of the ways the PCTA shows up for the Pacific Crest Trail beyond the trail itself,” Megan said. “This year, our team brought focused, thoughtful advocacy to Washington, D.C., ensuring that the trail and the people who care about it were represented in key conversations. I’m grateful for the commitment behind that work and for what it means for the future of the PCT.”

While the Pacific Crest Trail certainly is our team’s focus during these meetings, we convey a broader message about the PCT’s place in the nation’s trail system and what that system brings to our collective emotional, physical and economic wellbeing. Making sure Congress and the administration understand how much trails like the PCT mean to our country is key to our continuing success. 

In 2025, volunteers across the entire NTS dedicated more than 810,000 hours to trail maintenance, an in-kind value of just over $29 million. Private donations to the 32 National Scenic and Historic Trail nonprofits exceeded $22 million last year. Since 1995, our groups have brought 62% of the resources to maintain and preserve the NTS.  

Government funding and collaboration from agency land managers is certainly a vital part of the equation. Without agency expertise, our work would not be possible.  

From the trail operations and management perspective, Justin took the lead in engaging with our partners in the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. In those meetings, he emphasized the success of the private and public partnership in the management and maintenance of the PCT.

“Agency staff deeply value the contributions that PCTA volunteers and staff make to trail each year,” Justin said. “They expressed their ongoing support for the partnership and the crucial role the PCTA plays to ensure that the trail remains open and accessible, especially in the face of increasing maintenance challenges resulting from wildfires, floods, and severe weather events.”

Recent federal priorities have signaled a reduced role for government in caring for our nation’s trails, with massive proposed cuts to trail budgets and significant reductions to agency staff. The Forest Service lost approximately 8,000 employees last year through layoffs, early retirements, and “Reduction in Force” efforts. Along the PCT, this has translated into ranger districts with little to no dedicated trail or recreation staff. As a result, projects are taking longer to approve and complete. We are seeing similar effects across the country. From our perspective, these changes are materially limiting the ability to care for the nations trails at the level they require.

This was one of our key points during our conversations with Congress and agency staffers this year. Priorities for the PCTA and the Partnership for the National Trails System included holding the line on regular agency, public lands and nonprofit group funding; restoring agency staff and trail oversight operations; and stopping the administration’s proposal to revoke land protections of the 2001 Roadless Rule.  

Our top funding priority for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2027 budget is the reauthorization of the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF). 

The LRF was created with the passage of the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act, which set aside $9 billion over five years to pay for deferred maintenance on public lands. The program has been wildly successful.

Just along the PCT, through 2025, we spent $3.2 million from this targeted grant program on deferred trail maintenance.

This funding harnessed 65,651 volunteer and corps crew hours while tackling crucial deferred maintenance projects on 872 miles of the PCT. The LRF funding expired in September 2025. Yet $40 billion worth of deferred maintenance remains on public lands across the country. Congress is working in rare bipartisan fashion to extend the funding stream, and the administration has signaled support.

Just before we arrived in D.C., Congress ended the longest major federal government shutdown in U.S. History. The mid-cycle budget bill passed in January was better than could be expected for trails. It included a 10% increase to the U.S. Forest Service’s trails budget, from $20 million to $22 million. The administration was pushing a 60% cut to the trails line item.

This reprieve was good news and gave us an opportunity to thank Congress for pushing back. However, as debate has started over the FY2027 budget, which begins Oct. 1, the administration has not changed its approach. The President’s Budget again proposes slashing the Forest Service trails funding, this time by 64%, from $22 million to $8 million. That proposal is extremely disappointing, and from our standpoint, unrealistic. 

Congress is working on the budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. In general, the President’s budget is considered a rough blueprint, and lawmakers have the ultimate responsibility to set spending priorities, generally after much consultation with constituents and internal deliberation. Regardless, we are taking the administration’s proposal seriously as it telegraphs its priorities for trails and public lands. Obviously, we are asking Congress to again push back and support trails, recreation, rural economies and public lands protections with a robust and realistic funding plan. We’re seeking level funding or another slight increase for trails for the next fiscal year. In the interim, we will make sure our elected representatives understand how much agencies already are relying on volunteers and groups like ours to maintain the nation’s trails, and that we still need and deserve federal funding and agency field staff to support our work.  

Overall, I will say that we had a very successful Hike the Hill this year. I came away particularly energized by our encounters with Congressional and agency staffers from both sides of the aisle. While trails and public lands are up against major forces trying to erode or eliminate protections, funding and the public’s ability to engage in planning efforts, we found that Congress values trails and what the trails community contributes.  

The need to protect trails and public lands will always be there, so our efforts will never diminish. You can do your part by engaging with the people elected to represent you in Congress. They are listening and are making decisions based on what they hear from their constituents. We will continue to work on these issues and keep you informed. Meanwhile, keep the faith and keep up the good work for the PCT, all trails and the precious public lands they pass through.  

Thank you for all your efforts.  

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