On a beautiful summer day in the late 1990s, my father and I took a hike to Harrison Lake in the Selkirk Mountains outside of Sandpoint.

I had just started to get into hiking and understood very little about who manages and takes care of the great hiking trails in our state. The only thing that I did know at the time is that my father and I were hiking on Forest Service land—lands that belong to the American people. There are few countries in the world where you can find vast public ownership, accessible to everyone. In Idaho we have lots of it, and it’s a great thing because in the words of Will Rogers, “They ain’t making it no more.”

As we hiked the trail we came upon a crew of seasonal Forest Service employees, yielding various tools. The crew was cutting brush and logs, clearing out water drains, and repairing the trail tread. As we passed by we expressed our gratitude to the trail crew, but admittedly we took for granted that a hired crew was clearing out the trail at no cost to us.

If we owned the land around Harrison Lake, we would have had to pay the crew a substantial amount to do this work. I realize that as taxpayers, we pay for these crews indirectly, but I can only imagine how little you and I are actually paying out of our own pockets for this trail work.
Congress has slashed the Forest Service budget, just like many other programs. Now days there are fewer and fewer of those Forest Service crews clearing the trails. Colleagues at the Payette National Forest tell me (and this was before the latest budget cuts) that in recent years Congress appropriates enough money for the Forest to maintain only 15% of the roads and trails. Roads take priority, so the amount left over for trails is miniscule.

Enter the Idaho Trails Association. Until now, there has been no statewide organization in Idaho that was established to represent and promote the interests of hikers. The time has come for us to yield our own saws, shovels, pulaskis and do our part. We must help the Forest Service and other land managers take care of our hiking trails so that we can have a system of trails that are safe, sustainable, and enjoyable.

To be sure, we’ll make sure to set aside some time to lace up our boots, shoulder a pack, and travel the backcountry, because that’s what we enjoy doing. In fact, we would like to lead some group hikes at some point. But first things first. We hope you’ll join us this summer as we embark on a mission to become the caretakers of Idaho’s hiking trails.