16 April 2026 | WASHINGTON — A reorganization of the Forest Service is getting a lot of attention, and you can hear more about that below from the Forest Service Chief himself. That may be a distraction from his 2027 budget justification, which among many things, calls for slashing the trails maintenance and construction budget by almost 2/3rds from the 2026 enacted budget.
Read the full document here.
A little elementary math
The agency is responsible for maintaining about 164,000 miles of trails for the public, according to narrative in their budget justification. At $22 million, that’s 133.3 dollars per mile per year. Compare that to our budget. We have to raise about about $750,000 of annual operating funds to maintain the 400 miles of trails we’ve adopted in the last 15 years, and almost every year we beat targets. Still, that’s over $1,800 per mile per year.
That sounds like a lot and it is, and I take seriously my commitment to the taxpayers and donors whose funds we steward. We’re probably on the very expensive side of dollar per mile per year in that we maintain aggressive clearing limits, focus on projects with ridiculous mobilization, and are often taking on trails in burn areas that have been neglected for decades. But the notion of maintaining 164,000 miles with just $8 million is ludicrous, even if you consider potential outside investment.
That’s just $49 per mile per year. With gas prices, you can’t haul a volunteer to a trail and back for $49. Furthermore, if the agency thinks that they can slash budgets and make up the different in private investment, they are wrong. That's not the way philanthropy works.
Investment begets investment. Donors want to see commensurate commitment and strong longterm partnerships. Divestment begets divestment and this could be the beginning of a downward for organizations like ours who use public investment to inspire cost sharing from our community.
What do you think? We’d love to hear our readers' opinions about the agency's 2027 budget request. Send us your opinion piece in 300 words or less and we may publish it. Include your favorite pictures. Just email info@siskiyoumountainclub.org.
