By KEVIN MCCABE
In Alaska, trails are not just for recreation. They are essential for subsistence, transportation, and keeping communities connected. Yet the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation has quietly changed the rules for the federal Recreational Trails Program, cutting out municipalities, tribes, and nonprofits that have long built and maintained the backbone of Alaska’s trail system.
Under the new policy, eligibility for the FY26 Recreational Trails Program is restricted to projects on state park lands and their access routes. Nonprofits can apply only if they partner with state parks, while local governments and tribal entities are told to look elsewhere. The suggestion is to apply to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. But that fund is geared toward land acquisition, not trail maintenance, and has neither the scale nor the flexibility to replace the Recreational Trails Program. This shift is not about efficiency. It is about centralizing power, money, and control.
The Recreational Trails Program is federally administered by the Federal Highway Administration and funded by the gas taxes paid by off-highway users. It is based on the user-pay, user-benefit principle and requires a fair distribution of funding: 30% to motorized, 30% to non-motorized, and 40% to diversified projects. This balance has kept Alaska’s trail system strong and equitable.
The Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation’s decision threatens to upset that balance. Motorized users are the largest contributors to the fund and the biggest users of our trails, and most of that activity takes place on borough and tribal lands, not within state parks. If Recreational Trails Program money is limited to state park lands, there is a serious risk that the federally mandated motorized allocation will go unspent or be misdirected. That is not only unfair to users who pay in, but also inconsistent with federal intent.
Despite EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s assurances during a recent roundtable in Alaska that he is working to make the NEPA process less restrictive, the state division has justified its new restriction by pointing to federal environmental review requirements and claiming that limiting eligibility will “streamline” oversight.
When you strip away the language, it amounts to consolidating roughly $1.5 million in expected FY26 Recreational Trails Program funds under direct Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation control. Past fiscal maneuvers make one wonder if this is yet another attempt to steer money toward the Alaska Long Trail, a project that looks glamorous on paper but comes with price tags that should give any fiscally honest policymaker pause.
According to a 2025 feasibility study, developing just 233 miles of identified gap segments between Seward and Fairbanks would cost between $16.3 million on the low end and $35 million on the high end, with annual administration and upkeep alone adding up to $1 million to $4.4 million each year. State capital budget filings also show proposed Alaska Long Trail projects topping $9.5 million for just 14 segments, mostly in Anchorage, and another package of nine projects approved by lawmakers that could cost up to $3.7 million.
At a time when rural Alaskans rely on trails for daily life, harvest routes, school access, and emergency transport, diverting trail dollars into a costly, monument-sized project that benefits a few is not smart stewardship. It is political theater.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Administrative Order No. 359 asked state agencies to seek efficiencies. But real efficiency means doing more with less for all Alaskans, not cutting out the communities who need trails the most, nor sidelining the volunteers and nonprofits who have carried the load for decades.
This new policy undermines collaboration, reduces fairness, and turns a user-funded program into a tool for state bureaucracy. It raises important questions: Was the State Recreational Trail Advisory Committee consulted? Did the division solicit public input from communities most impacted? And has the Federal Highway Administration even approved this narrowing of eligibility?
Alaskans deserve transparency and accountability. The Recreational Trails Program was never meant to be monopolized by one agency or one flashy project. It was designed to serve all users across the breadth of Alaska, in a way that reflects how we live, travel, and recreate.
It is time for the Department of Natural Resources and the Governor’s Office to step in, reverse this decision, and restore broad eligibility. Our trails are not political props or monopolized funding streams. They are a shared heritage that belongs to every Alaskan.
If we let this policy stand, we risk losing the very partnerships and volunteer energy that have kept Alaska’s trails open. Alaskans should speak up now. Contact your legislators and the Department of Natural Resources and demand that Recreational Trails Program funds remain fair, balanced, and accessible to all.
Rep. Kevin McCabe serves in the Alaska Legislature on behalf of District 30.
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