Recreational Trails Program in jeoporady
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:15 pm
Many people don't know but states aquire funding from federal legislature which is now being challenged. The senate has a bill which will eliminate funding for the Recreational Trails Program. This program takes taxes from off-road recreational gas sales, and uses it to fund departments and organizations that maintain the trial network that we all love. This includes NY state, and the Catskill Mountains.
Here is a link to the RTP website
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rec ... al_trails/
There is some "Moving ahead for progress" (whatever that is supposed to mean) bill in the Senate right now S.1813 , which will eliminate funding for the RTP program. Therefore millions of dollars of federal funding will be cut for NY state, which will drastically affect trail programs.
It's absurd since the RTP get's it's funding mainly from off-road vehicle use, and it is used to maintain off-road trails and foot hiking trails, therefore it essentially "pays for itself" and isn't using other federal tax money (such as building roads) but it's being cut in the name of progress. I am not a lawyer, I don't understand politics or how eliminating trail funding corresponds to "progress". I'm not a fan of these big package-deal type bills, where the name has nothing to do with the contents. It seems that this bill has turned into a political circus, and it could drastically affect trail conditions all over the country.
Here is a link to the RTP website
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rec ... al_trails/
There is some "Moving ahead for progress" (whatever that is supposed to mean) bill in the Senate right now S.1813 , which will eliminate funding for the RTP program. Therefore millions of dollars of federal funding will be cut for NY state, which will drastically affect trail programs.
It's absurd since the RTP get's it's funding mainly from off-road vehicle use, and it is used to maintain off-road trails and foot hiking trails, therefore it essentially "pays for itself" and isn't using other federal tax money (such as building roads) but it's being cut in the name of progress. I am not a lawyer, I don't understand politics or how eliminating trail funding corresponds to "progress". I'm not a fan of these big package-deal type bills, where the name has nothing to do with the contents. It seems that this bill has turned into a political circus, and it could drastically affect trail conditions all over the country.