HELENA – Montana State Parks announced today that 45 trail organizations, communities, and various land-managing agencies throughout Montana will receive federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant awards for their projects in 2016. Among the recipients were Seeley Lake Driftriders, Inc. and Swan Valley Connections.
This year, 79 RTP applications were received from a variety of eligible applicants, including federal and state agencies, towns, cities, counties and private clubs and organizations.
The funds are appropriated to the states in the recent legislation passed by Congress called the FAST Act (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) that will provide funding for the program through 2020. The Recreational Trails Program current awards total approximately $1.44 million in federal funds. Funds have been allocated to the highest-scoring 45 projects based upon their relative scores and State Trails Advisory Committee recommendations.
Whitefish Legacy Partners and Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association (MTVRA) both secured $90,000 awards. The Whitefish Trail is a regional, multi-partner project that is developing a recreational trail system looping around the community of Whitefish and Whitefish Lake through state, federal and privately owned lands. The $90,000 RTP award will help construct a new section of the Whitefish Trail and two trailheads, as well as install trail signs, trailhead kiosks and other recreation amenities in the Haskill Basin area.
MTVRA will continue the mechanized maintenance of motorized trails on the Lewis & Clark-Helena, Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Custer-Gallatin National Forests and the Pipestone & Clancy-Unionville Bureau of Land Management (BLM) areas in direct partnership with the United States Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
The Seeley Lake Driftriders, Inc. received $45,000 for snowmobile trails grooming and maintenance. Swan Valley Connections also received $45,000 for the Mission Mountains Wilderness and Swan Front trails program.
The RTP Program awards grants through an annual competitive application process. Projects can range from construction and maintenance of trails, development of trailside and trailhead facilities, ethics and avalanche education and trainings, and interpretive programs.
A complete list of the successful 2016 Recreational Trails Program grant recipients is available here: http://stateparks.mt.gov/recreation/rtpGrants.html
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