A New Year Win for the Trails You Love: Advocacy in Action

Happy New Year, hiking community!

As we lace up our boots for the first treks of 2026, we have some significant news to share from Washington, D.C. After months of tireless advocacy by American Hiking Society and our partners, the House and Senate appropriations committees have reached a bipartisan agreement on a funding package for the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service.

This isn’t just policy talk—it’s a direct win for the trails you walk, the parks you explore, and the wild spaces we all cherish.

The Big Wins: Securing the Future of Our Trails

Despite a challenging fiscal environment, AHS successfully advocated for maintaining and increasing funding for critical trail programs. Your voice, combined with our presence on the Hill, ensured that trails were not left behind in the budget shuffle.

Key Funding Victories Include:

  • $2 Million Increase for the Forest Service Capital Improvement and Maintenance line item. This is vital for repairing aging trail infrastructure, bridges, and access points.

  • $248,000 Increase for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Scenic and Historic Trails.

  • Critical Staffing Language: Specific bill text that calls for restoring agency staffing to "fulfill the mission" of trail infrastructure. This gives us a powerful tool to ensure the people who actually manage our trails are supported and hired.

Navigating a Tough Budget Landscape

While we celebrate our specific wins for trails, we must also be transparent about the broader challenges facing our public lands. Congress is working to pass this package before the January 30 funding deadline, and the overall budget for land management agencies has seen reductions compared to previous years.

Here is how the broader agency funding breaks down in this new package:

Agency Final Topline Funding Change vs. FY24
National Park Service (NPS) $3.267 Billion -$69.8 Million
Forest Service Operations $1.09 Billion -$59 Million
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) $1.37 Billion -$33 Million
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) $1.65 Billion -$27.27 Million

Note: While the Forest Service saw a cut to its general operations, our advocacy ensured that trail maintenance and conservation funding remained level or increased.

Why Your Support Matters

These wins don’t happen by accident. When AHS meets with lawmakers, we bring the stories of hikers, trail builders, and outdoor enthusiasts to the table. Because of your support, we were able to protect trail funding even when other agency budgets were unfortunately being squeezed.

We work tirelessly throughout the year bringing together hundreds of trail organizations and supporters to engage in-person at Hike the HillⓇ, through coalition letters, and online to achieve these victories!

As this bill heads to the Senate shortly, we will continue to keep a close watch to ensure our public lands get the resources they deserve.

Want to help us keep the momentum going? Send a message to your Senators telling them to pass the FY26 Interior and Related Agencies funding bill!

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