"Shovel-ready" trail projects throughout the nation
This survey aims to quantify the capacity of the trails community to build, maintain, and develop trails now, and to provide input to GAOA and LWCF funding.
Between May 13th and 30th, 2020, American Trails conducted the first "Shovel-ready" survey in attempt to document the contribution the trails community can make to the American economic response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We received a tremendous response showing over 1,000 trail projects ready and waiting. Now, after a year of COVID-19 we're launching a second survey.
The purpose of this survey is to quantify the capacity of the trails community to build, maintain, and develop trails now, and to provide input to the Departments of Agriculture and Interior process for prioritizing and awarding Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) funding.
The survey asks about shovel-ready trail projects that, if funding were available and working conditions are safe, could be begun by the next summer and completed by the end of the 2025 federal FY. The questions below ask about trail project name, location, approximate budget, and a limited number of other key project characteristics.
Working with American Trails, you may choose to keep detailed project information like budgets confidential, in which case your responses will only be made public in aggregated form (e.g., state, congressional district, agency level reporting). You may also choose to make your project details public, in which case, your project(s) will be reviewed by a group of trail community representatives from a diverse spectrum of trail user types and a prioritized list will be provided directly to Agency leadership for purposes of recommending GAOA and LWCF funding in the next fiscal year.
Therefore, submission of your project information brings the following benefits:
Thank you for submitting to this important effort. If you have any questions before proceeding, please email trailhead@americantrails.org.
Attached document published February 2021
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