How the 2027 Budget Request May Affect the Appalachian Trail: Part 1

Earlier this month, the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2027 was released. The ATC has identified some of the top-line proposed shifts that would significantly impact the federal partners that are essential to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail’s cooperative management—the National Park Service (NPS) and USDA Forest Service (USFS)—as well as funding sources that could advance the stewardship and protection the Trail and its landscape.

This post provides insights into some of the proposed changes to the NPS that are of most concern to the A.T. Part Two will look at the USFS.

Contextualizing Recent NPS Cuts & Disruptions

National Park Service logo The NPS has experienced significant cuts in the past year, with a loss of about 24% of its workforce, including much of its senior leadership. These changes have significantly impacted the agency’s ability to effectively engage and work with partners.

The President’s Budget Request seeks further drastic change, including cutting $1 billion from the NPS budget and an additional 2,707 staff. The ATC believes this amount of change is too much, too quickly. The public lands and resources stewarded by the NPS, including the A.T., will likely suffer, and the transformational experiences that visitors expect could be diminished.

Harmful Consequences for the A.T.

Other proposed changes in the budget request could impact improvements and repairs to the Trail, as well as threaten the scenic and wild character of the A.T. Every single project that happens on the A.T., from building a rock waterbar or a staircase to clearing overgrowth on the boundary line must be reviewed to ensure compliance with relevant law and land management priorities. There is also increasing pressure from infrastructure development adjacent to the protected A.T. Corridor. No matter if the project is on the Trail or within the surrounding public lands, both types go through a federal review process at the NPS or USFS.

The Administration’s request to decrease the NPS’s Environmental Compliance appropriation from $465 million to $232 million would not, in our estimation, improve the review of proposed projects. While the ATC agrees that permitting and approval can be reformed and made more streamlined for both proponents and stakeholders, we do not believe that reducing the relevant appropriation by half at the NPS that supports it will do so. Effective reform should focus on improving efficiency while maintaining sufficient staffing and expertise to meet legal requirements.

Several other proposed shifts in the NPS budget that support both park operations and sharing park service expertise include:

A decrease of $213.463 million in “resource stewardship,” including managing the Trail’s Congressionally identified scenic, natural, cultural, and historical values.
Trimming $366.434 million in “facility operations.” For context, every inch of the A.T. treadway is a “facility” asset, as are all privies, shelters, bridges, etc.
Zeroing out of the “natural programs” appropriation (including Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance and Hydropower Recreation Assistance), which funds local assistance programs the NPS provides communities nationwide, including A.T. Communities.

Benefits to Public Lands

There are bright spots in the budget request, including the Administration’s endorsement of an extension of the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF). The creation of the LRF is one of the twin pillars of President Trump’s signature conservation achievement from his first term, the Great American Outdoors Act.

Established in 2020 to address a backlog in deferred maintenance caused by multiple years of underfunding, the LRF is helping the NPS, USFS, and other agencies rebuild important infrastructure from treadways to water systems to better serve the public and tell our nation’s stories. The backlog of deferred maintenance on the A.T. is over $100 million, and LRF funds are currently at work on the Trail in New England, enabling a multi-year effort to tackle long-awaited treadway, shelters, privies and other facility asset repairs to improve the Trail’s resilience and improve the visitor experience.

The budget request also includes $10 million set-aside in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for National Scenic and Historic Trails. The A.T. is the product of over 3,000 individual transactions by the NPS and USFS to build what we know as the “Corridor” of the A.T. Dedicated support for the A.T. and the 23 other NPS-administered National Scenic and Historic Trails to protect their footpaths and the lands surrounding them will increase access and connectivity of conserved areas, benefitting wildlife and recreation.

However, the ATC is concerned about the NPS’s stated priority to pursue easements rather than fee simple acquisitions (lands owned in their entirety). The A.T. Corridor is over 370,000 acres of land, including 33,850 acres of easement (about 9% of the total A.T. Corridor). In the ATC’s experience, easements can require additional long-term stewardship capacity—including additional costs—due to ongoing monitoring and landowner relationships.

Join Us in Advocating for the Trail

While the President’s Budget Request is a blueprint for the direction an administration would like to take the federal government, Congress plays an important role in providing the parameters under which Presidents and agencies work and ultimately writing the budget through its annual appropriations bills.

ATC will continue to work with Congress to ensure that federal funding and staffing levels support the long-term stewardship of the A.T. and its cooperative management framework. The ATC looks forward to communicating our perspective on the needs of the NPS and the USFS (see part II, coming soon) with Congress, and we encourage all A.T. supporters to do the same.