Trails serve the recreation needs of about 50 million1 hikers, cross-country skiers, horseback riders, off-road vehicles, bicyclists, and other recreationists on National Forests every year. Currently only 21% of Forest Service trails are maintained to standard.

• The number of Recreation Visitor Days on National Forest trails has in-creased 376% since 1977, and the trail miles have increased by 56.9% to meet the growing visitor need.
• The trail maintenance backlog has far surpassed annual trail budgets since the 1980’s and now stands around $296 million.
• Trails maintenance and construction budgets have remained flat—increasing only 1.75% since 1980 (after adjusting for inflation).