The Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT), a federation of national and regional trail-related groups, presented its second annual Achievement Awards to seven trail programs and projects for outstanding use of Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funds. The awards were announced at a special Capitol Hill ceremony and also featured remarks from Congressman Thomas Petri, Chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Ground Transportation Subcommittee, and Cynthia Burbank, Associate Administrator for Planning and the Environment at the Federal Highway Administration. The Ground Transportation Subcommittee has oversight responsibility for the RTP, which is administered by the Federal Highway Administration.

The trail projects and programs honored by the CRT included:

The Recreational Trails Program, first established in 1991 and then reauthorized as part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), returns a portion of federal gasoline taxes generated by non-highway recreation to the states for trail-related purposes.

Currently, the program receives $50 million in annual funding. The members of the CRT work together to build awareness and understanding of the RTP, to support its effective implementation and to help ensure that it receives adequate funding.

During the awards ceremony, CRT Co-Chair Dean Tice also reported some of the findings from a recent data-collection effort undertaken by CRT to measure the impact and importance of the RTP. Its review of over 2,500 projects funded by the RTP since the program's inception revealed that:

(1) federal RTP dollars have been matched at least 1:1 nationally by state, local and trail enthusiast funding for projects;

(2) trail and bridge construction and reconstruction have been the leading category of trail projects funded under the program;

(3) projects appear to be benefitting specific trail activities in a way that is generally proportionate to overall public participation in each activity; and

(4) while the size of the projects varies tremendously in scope and cost, the average project received approximately $25,000 from the RTP program.

Mr. Tice also announced that the data-collection effort, which had been undertaken in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, would be continued for a second year, with findings to be reported later this year.