Bi-Partisan Leadership Fuels State-Level Trail Investment in 2024
I love working with states as a member of RTC’s policy team, which focuses on the federal and state levels. Trail advocacy can be beset by hurdles, but I find state legislatures to be accessible, and I’m fascinated by the differences between them and how they operate.
It’s been great to work with advocates, partners and coalitions in states across the country and learning how their systems run—sometimes making unexpected connections. For example, a bike-friendly law passed in Delaware might be replicable in Maine because of how its department of transportation (DOT) is structured. States have sometimes been called the “laboratories of democracy.” We see a lot of possibility for innovation in policy and funding at this level—and more bipartisanship than at the federal level.
RTC worked closely with local and state partners in fiscal year (FY) 2024 to generate support for trails in 21 states and Puerto Rico. As in past years, support for trails came from Democratic- and Republican-controlled state legislatures—with nearly $94 million passed in new funding for trails. This includes $73.69 million passed in Ohio for its statewide trail program that will benefit local and regional trails and created a new trails maintenance fund, and $20 million ($4 million for five years) passed in Florida for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Local Trail Management Grant program, TRAIL-GO. In addition to funding, state policy work supported other legislation and agency work that encourages more trail development, as well as long-term partnerships and coalition building.
In November, we advocated alongside partners for seven ballot initiatives in six states that helped protect vulnerable trail funding programs and resulted in an estimated $1.69 billion+ for local and state trails. You can read all about the individual ballot initiatives and their impact in California, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Maine and Washington in our Nov. 14, 2024, article on the TrailBlog, “Biking, Walking and Trails Win Big in 2024 Ballot Measures.”
Iowa’s Johnson and Story Counties Take Action for Trails
RTC has collaborated with trail advocates in Iowa for several years to encourage the state legislature to seed a voter-created funding pot for outdoor recreation, the Iowa Water and Land Legacy (IWILL), that would support outdoor and conservation projects that are in demand by residents across Iowa, including trails and access to public land. The quality-of-life components are aimed at attracting and retaining a qualified workforce and generating ecotourism and economic benefits—in part through completing Iowa’s cross-state section of the Great American Rail-Trail.
Frustrated by the legislature’s inaction, two counties—Johnson (which includes Iowa City) and Story (which includes Ames)—decided to go out on their own, putting up ballot initiatives for $25 million and $30 million each, which their voters approved in November 2024. These actions will be transformative for state outdoor recreation and serve as a model for other localities to pursue in the face of reduced state-level funding.
One pillar of RTC’s advocacy strategy is building visible support for trails, walking and biking among state legislators. In Indiana and Ohio, RTC has led efforts to develop bipartisan legislative trails caucuses—each with substantial memberships—pulled fairly equally from legislators of both major parties. And we are seeing some impactful results; in Ohio, for example, the Trails Caucus was instrumental in appropriating $5 million for trail maintenance, the first-ever trail maintenance investment by a state. Our caucus activity is just one example of how we are building a statewide presence for trails and yielding support for and investment in the state’s trail networks.
This leadership is particularly important as we take stock of the impact of leadership changes in Washington, D.C., and statehouses across the country in 2025 and beyond. In a more volatile funding and policy climate that is bringing increased scrutiny to investments in trails, walking and biking, RTC continues to bring pragmatic optimism to our legislative strategy, working with partner organizations across the country to advance new state and local funding sources and protect existing funding for biking, walking and trails.
Given tighter state budget forecasts and competing demands within smaller state budgets due to federal program cuts, we are also looking to support innovate policies that support the development of walking and bicycling infrastructure.
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