Maintain and Protect Hiking Trails

Posted by on November 13, 2011

American Hiking Society Offers Support to Maintain and Protect Hiking Trails
Deadline: December 15, 2011

The American Hiking Society’s National Trails Fund is the only privately funded national grants program dedicated solely to building and protecting hiking trails. To date, the fund has awarded over $500,000 to one hundred and sixty-five grassroots organizations in the United States working to establish, protect, and maintain foot trails.

National Trails Fund grants are designed to give local organizations the resources they need to secure access, volunteers, tools, and materials to repair and protect America’s hiking trails.

For the 2012 program, grants will be awarded for projects that have hikers as the primary constituency (although multi-purpose human-powered trail uses are eligible); projects that secure trail lands, including acquisition of trails and trail corridors and the costs associated with acquiring conservation easements; projects that will result in visible and substantial ease of access, improved hiker safety, and/or avoidance of environmental damage; and projects that promote constituency-building surrounding specific trail projects, including volunteer recruitment and support.

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and be a member of American Hiking’s Alliance of Hiking Organizations.

Awards range from $500 to $5,000 per project. Except for land acquisition programs, acceptable projects should be completed in within a year. Multi-year projects will be considered only in exceptional cases.

Visit the American Hiking Society Web site for complete program guidelines, the application form, and information on becoming a member of the Alliance of Hiking Organizations.

http://www.americanhiking.org/our-work/national-trails-fund/