View from The Hill: CDTC Congressional Update

by Claire Cutler | CDTC Trail Policy Specialist

Three CDTC staff members headed to Washington, D.C. last week to participate in Hike the Hill, a joint effort between the American Hiking Society and Partnership for the National Trails System to bring together the trails community.

Following unprecedented changes and challenges at land management agencies just weeks earlier, such as large reductions in staff size and new restrictions on agency budgets, Hike the Hill offered a timely opportunity to highlight the importance of public lands and our collaborative partnerships with these agencies.

Hike the Hill was also an opportunity to highlight the return on investment of our federal agency partnerships and build relationships with Senators and Representatives from along the CDT. CDTC was proud to share that in 2024, over 1,350 volunteers with CDTC contributed 17,305 volunteer hours. The value of these hours was over $579,000, and CDTC raised another $1.44 million in private funding. These contributions combined meant that CDTC delivered a match of 6.8:1 on the FY 2024 US Forest Service Allocation to the CDT! Over the course of the year, CDTC also reached over 3,000 community members at events in all five CDT states. 

Alongside these successes, CDTC reaffirmed our support for the important work these agencies do along the CDT and across the entire National Trails System. 

In meetings with twenty Congressional offices from both the House and the Senate, every state along the CDT, and both sides of the aisle, we were struck by an overwhelming recognition from elected officials that public lands, and the trails used to access them, are crucial to the cultures, economies, and vitality of communities along the Continental Divide. 

Since the land management agency mass-terminations on February 14, Senators and Representatives from along the Divide have been collecting statistics and stories about the impacts of these terminations and, in some cases, working to reinstate jobs. These elected officials are also working to understand the full impacts of other recent administrative changes, such as the closing of federal offices and critical partnerships not receiving funding. CDTC is working on collecting stories to share with Congressional offices. If you have a story about how the terminations, or the other issues currently facing public lands, impact you, your family, your business, or your community, you can submit it using this form. 

Long-term champions of the CDT and newcomers alike shared with us their desire to protect and uplift rural communities, and our team is leaving DC invigorated and ready to make this commitment happen.

 Hike the Hill drove home to us the importance of collaborating to protect the places we care for so deeply, and of bringing together the voices of community members, elected officials, federal agencies, partner organizations like the CDTC, and everyone who cares about the communities and landscape of the Divide.

Hike the Hill laid the foundation for CDTC’s advocacy work in the months to come. We’re working with Congressional champions to reintroduce the CDT Completion Act, sharing data and stories about the importance of public lands to Continental Divide communities, and continuing to support strong funding and staffing for land management agencies, who remain a critical partner in all of the work we do. CDTC remains committed to building relationships with federal decision-makers and elevating the importance of the CDT and public lands. 

The CDT needs the voices of all those who care about the continued protection of trails and public lands. Sign up for CDT Advocacy Alerts and visit our new CDT Action Center to receive updates about upcoming trainings, opportunities to take action, and how emerging news impacts the CDT.