The national trails system objectives preserve, protect, and develop the components of the national trails system, with a strong emphasis on volunteer involvement through financial assistance…

The federal Cooperative Agreement award P24AC02317, provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service under the National Trails System Projects program (CFDA 15.935), totals $146,915 and aims to enhance volunteer efforts to improve public access, recreation, and retracement opportunities along the Oregon and California National Historic Trails. The award recipient, the Oregon-California Trails Association, a non-profit organization based in Independence, Missouri, will use the funding to support diverse activities such as site design, interpretive analysis, trail development, and public access improvements. The project's key deliverables include creating accessible visitor experiences at trail sites, supporting a dedicated association manager to coordinate volunteer efforts, facilitating public and private sector engagement, and developing trail signing, certification, and route refinement. The funding period for this award is from September 15, 2024, to September 15, 2025.

The national trails system objectives preserve, protect, and develop the components of the national trails system, with a strong emphasis on volunteer involvement through financial assistance agreements to operate, develop, and maintain any portion of such a trail either within or outside a federally administered area. The goal of this project is to enhance volunteer efforts to improve public access, recreation and retracement opportunities along the oregon and california national historic trails (nhts) and related sites. Beneficiaries include the general public, states and or their political subdivisions, landowners, private organizations, or individuals.