The Federal Highways Recreational Trails Program (RTP) provides critical funding for recreational trails for all seasons in Alaska, providing funding for recreational trail development and maintenance across that has funded 552 trail projects across. In Alaska RTP has funded hiking, biking, OHV, snow machine, paddling and multi-use trails. RTP is funded by a portion of the fuel tax attributed to snowmobile and OHV usage, but also funds non-motorized trails on federal, state, local, and tribal lands. Worthy project proposals greatly exceed Alaska’s share of current RTP funding.
Based on the “user-pay, user-benefit” model of the Highway Trust Fund, the RTP is funded from gas taxes paid by non-highway recreational vehicles. The RTP is currently funded at $84 million annually, but it is estimated that federal gas taxes paid by non-highway recreational vehicles amount to more than $250 million annually. The Recreational Trails Program Full Funding Act of 2020 would provide an increase in RTP funding to either $250 million or the latest non-highway recreational fuel study as required by this legislation.
It's time for Congress to fully fund the Recreational Trails Program! Write our Congressional Delegation to let them know how important RTP is to your community!
Download a letter template from AOA's Advocacy Toolkit, customize with your specifics then send to our Congresspeople.
Find a list of recent RTP projects in Alaska in this sortable database:
For more info about the Recreational Trails Program in Alaska, contact Lee Hart, Alaska Outdoor Alliance, lee@alaskaventure.org