U.S. House members sign letter of support for Recreational Trails Program

Some 26 members of the U.S. House have signed a letter addressed to the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in support of the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP) that provides funding for motorized and non-motorized trails, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reports.

 U.S. Reps. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.) first circulated the letter seeking signatures on July 10. To support the initiative, the AMA asked motorcyclists and ATV riders to contact their lawmakers and urge them to sign the letter in support of the program.

"We thank all the lawmakers who signed the letter, as well as the AMA and ATVA members who responded to our request to ask their lawmakers to sign," said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. "We would have liked to have had more support from lawmakers, but hopefully we will gather more support as the legislation is further discussed."

The RTP is a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)-administered program that was first created in the 1991 transportation bill (ISTEA). The RTP operates through state trail programs, with the active involvement of diverse trail interests represented by mandated state trail advisory councils. Funding is provided by taxes generated from fuel used in off-highway recreational vehicles.
The bipartisan letter thanks the leadership for including the RTP in the Surface Transportation Authorization Act. The letter asks that RTP funding be set at $690 million over six years—$90 million in 2010, $100 million in 2011, $110 million in 2012, $120 million in 2013, $130 million in 2014, and $140 million in 2015.

To read the letter, click here.

Those who signed the letter are, in addition to U. S. Reps. Michaud and Petri, U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Mike Ross (D-Ark.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Michael Honda (D-Calif.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.), Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), David Price (D-N.C.), Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Christopher Carney (D-Penn.), Joe Sestak (D-Penn.), Tim Murphy (R-Penn.), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), James Moran (D-Va.) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Wash. D.C.).