Supporting Road and Trail Maintenance in Our National Forests
Photo by Meg Town
Washington Wild coordinated a letter signed by 160 elected officials, local businesses, land trusts, local breweries, hunting and fishing organizations, conservation groups and recreation interests from across Washington to support funding for the federal Legacy Roads and Trails funding in Congress.
A separate letter was sent to each of the 12 members of the Washington Congressional delegation urging them to make a formal appropriations request before the committee deadline on March 20.
Signers included nearly 70 local elected officials from the State legislature and county and municipal governments ranging from Anacortes to Richland and Spokane to Ocean Shores. The letter also highlighted a diverse mix of conservation, hunting and fishing, recreation, wildlife and land trust organizations from around the state.
Together they supported a $100 million request for legacy roads and trails funding for national forests to adequately maintain Forest Service roads to support access and eliminate aquatic risk to clean water and salmon habitat from road damage.
In conjunction with this broad local support, nine of our 12 members of the Washington Congressional delegation joined 21 other members of Congress in signing a formal Dear Colleague letter led by Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA08) supporting an appropriations request for legacy roads and trails funding.
The Need to Maintain our National Forest Service Roads
Extreme weather events driven by climate change—like the recent atmospheric rivers—show us what happens when national forest infrastructure is neglected: culverts plug, roads wash out, salmon eggs are buried, access is lost and repair costs skyrocket.
We have a proven solution to these formidable challenges: The Legacy Roads and Trails program. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act reinstated and permanently authorized this proven program, creating the urgent need for additional investments to put people to work. More funding is needed to jumpstart the backlog of repairs needed to restore watersheds, protect drinking water, and reconnect waterways for migrating fish.
With $100M in committed funding for FY 2027 in the Interior-Environment Appropriations Bill, we will see progress including:
- Restored fish passages on key streams by fixing culverts and protecting roads from storms
- Improved water quality by reclaiming unneeded roads and preventing sediment from entering waterways
- Ensured access to Forest Service lands by storm-proofing roads and trails.
