2022 National Forest System Trail Stewardship Grants Awarded

Funding for 12 mountain bike trail projects in National Forests

The National Forest System Trail Stewardship (NFSTS) Funding Program awarded a total $294,000 to 33 trail projects in US Forest Service regions across the country. Twelve of the awardees are for projects on trails open to mountain bikes. These projects received $139,400 for maintenance and repair of roughly 430 miles of trails currently facing deferred maintenance, by some 1,200 volunteers clocking in 17,100 work hours.

The NFSTS partnership grant is a joint partnership between the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and the US Forest Service, in collaboration with the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and a diverse array of trail partners. The grant supports organizations leading trail maintenance efforts in National Forests.

“We are pleased that trail organizations, particularly mountain biking groups, continue to engage with the NFSTS Funding Program,” said IMBA Executive Director David Wiens. “We will continue to educate our IMBA Local partners on grant opportunities to help them tap into funding for trail projects and increase access to mountain biking for communities everywhere.”

Among this season’s recipients are IMBA Chapter Routt County Riders (RCR); Lowelifes Respectable Citizens’ Club (LRCC), a member of IMBA Affiliate Partner CAMTB; and Tuolumne River Trust which is working with IMBA Chapter Groveland Trailheads on their project.

Routt County Riders was awarded a $6,710 grant to support trail maintenance and upkeep on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Colorado. RCR and its partners will be working on tread reconstruction, corridor cleaning, downed tree removal, and more on approximately 20 miles of trails.

Lowelifes Respectable Citizens’ Club received a $5,000 grant to restore 7 miles of Silver Moccasin National Recreational Trail in California from substantial damage sustained from the 2020 Bobcat Fire. LRCC will be doing sawyering, trail bed restoration, and other maintenance work from the Charlton Flat area to the West Fork campground.

Part of the $10,000 grant received by Tuolumne River Trust will go towards the construction of a 16-mile singletrack trail system in the Stanislaus National Forest in California, in partnership with Groveland Trail Heads.

IMBA congratulates the local stewardship groups and mountain bike organizations that received grants:

The NFSTS Funding Program is made possible through the National Forest Trail Stewardship Act of 2016, which IMBA, alongside several partners, helped to pass. The Act significantly increases the role of volunteers and partners in trail maintenance to aid in addressing backlogged projects such as signage upgrades, trail clearing, reroutes, bridge and structure repair, and improvements to drainage. The funding comes from dedicated USFS funds, demonstrating the significance the agency gives to the program.

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