President Barack Obama recently signed a new law that could benefit Colorado hiking trails.
The new National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act calls for a national strategy to utilize partnerships for trail maintenance.
Jennifer Peterson directs the Rocky Mountain Field Institute, a nonprofit that works with volunteers to maintain trails in the Pikes Peak region. She says the law is an important gesture from the federal government.
"To have legislation at the federal level that sort of puts all of our hard work into words, into formal action at that level is absolutely huge," she says.
The law encourages collaboration to address the backlog of trail work. It sets a goal of increasing maintenance by volunteers and partners by 100%.
Peterson says upkeep is becoming more necessary with increased traffic on trails in the region.
