2020 Recreational Trails Program Award Recipients

The RTP awarded a total of $1,613,142.98 in funding for the 2020 Grant Cycle. The following 45 project proposals were selected for full or partial funding.

RTP Award Organization Project Title Project Overview Amount Beartooth Red Lodge-Area Nordic Ski This project will fund winter $ 20,000.00 Recreational Trails Trail Grooming and grooming and maintenance on 14.6 Association Maintenance Project miles of Nordic-ski trails and multi- use trails on road and trails located near Red Lodge.

Big Sandy, Town of Big Sandy Safe Route to This project will fund the $ 50,500.00 Schools Project construction of 0.3 miles of new trail connecting the Elementary School to trail infrastructure on Johannes Avenue in Big Sandy.

Bitterroot Lake Como South-Side This project will fund the $ 35,000.00 Backcountry Cyclists Trails Construction Project construction of approximately 8 miles of non-motorized trail south of Lake Como.

Bitterroot Cross- Chief Joseph Pass Winter This project will fund winter $ 30,000.00 Country Ski Club Trails Grooming Project grooming on 33 miles of cross- country ski and multi-use winter trails at Chief Joseph Pass.

Bitterroot Sapphire and Bitterroot This project will fund winter $ 10,000.00 Ridgerunners Mountains Snowmobile grooming on approximately 72 miles Trail Grooming Project of snowmobile and multi-use trails in the Sapphire and Bitterroot mountains.

Bob Marshall Bob Marshall Wilderness This project will fund volunteer trail $ 40,000.00 Wilderness Complex Volunteer maintenance, weed control and Foundation Stewardship Project campsite restoration in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Bridger Ski Gallatin Valley Winter This project will fund winter $ 25,000.00 Foundation Grooming and grooming and maintenance on over Maintenance Project 70km of cross-country ski trails at six venues in the Gallatin Valley.

Butte-Silver Bow Big Butte Open Space Park This project will fund the $ 23,740.00 Government Trail Expansion and construction of three connector trails Restoration Project and restore one segment of trail totaling 1.6 miles of trail in the Big Butte Open Space Park and Whiskey Gulch trail complex.

Columbia Falls, City River's Edge Park Trails This project will fund trails $ 100,000.00 of Improvement Project improvements and construction on 1 mile of trails at River's Edge City Park in Columbia Falls.

Deer Lodge, City of Deer Lodge Connector This project will fund the $ 47,000.00 Trails Project construction of four gravel trails/connectors (0.2 miles total) and an ADA parking spot in the City of Deer Lodge.

Five Valleys Land House of Sky Trail Project This project will fund the $ 75,000.00 Trust construction of the 4.6-mile House of Sky Trail south of Missoula and the purchase/installation of trail and trailhead signage.

Flathead Flathead-Area This project will fund winter $ 55,000.00 Snowmobile Snowmobile Trail grooming on approximately 200 Association Grooming and Equipment miles of snowmobile and mixed-use Maintenance Project trails in and around the Flathead valley. Gallatin Valley Land Front Street Pathway This project will fund the purchase of $ 45,000.00 Trust Bridge Project a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to be installed over Bozeman Creek in Bozeman.

Glacier Nordic Club Big Mountain Nordic Trail This project will fund winter $ 20,000.00 Grooming & Maintenance grooming and trail maintenance on Project 26km of cross-country ski trails near Whitefish. Great Falls Trail Bike Helena-Lewis & Clark This project will fund trail safety and $ 59,853.12 Riders Association National Forest-Jefferson maintenance on designated Division Trail Safety and motorized trails in the Highwood Maintenance Project Mountains, Castle Mountains and Little Belt Mountains of the Jefferson Division of the Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest.

Kings Hill Grooming Kings Hill Snowmobile This project will fund snowmobile $ 55,200.00 Association Trail Grooming and trail grooming and maintenance on Maintenance Project 267 miles in the Little Belt Mountains near Neihart.

Kootenai Cross- Flower Creek Vault Toilet This project will fund the purchase $ 15,000.00 Country Ski Club, Inc Installation Project and installation of a vault toilet for the Flower Creek Nordic Trail Course near Libby.

Last Chance Jane Beasley Memorial This project will fund the restoration $ 8,463.72 Audubon Society Trail Construction Project of a 300-yard non-motorized trail on the southwest side of Spring Meadow Lake in Spring Meadow Lake State Park in Helena.

Lone Pine State Park Lone Pine State Park Trail This project will fund the $ 70,300.00 Rehabilitation and Bridge replacement of a wooden pedestrian Replacement Project bridge and trail rehabilitation of 0.17mi of trail in Lone Pine State Park near Kalispell.

Missoula Nordic Ski Arctic Cat Bearcat This project will fund the purchase of $ 16,000.00 Club Snowmobile Purchase an Arctic Cat Bearcat snowmobile for Project grooming Missoula-area cross- country ski trails.

Montana Trail Statewide USFS and BLM This project will fund Phase VII of $ 60,000.00 Vehicle Riders Motorized Trail maintenance on designated Association Maintenance Project motorized routes on USFS and BLM (Phase VII) lands throughout Montana, including the Custer-Gallatin NF (55 miles), the Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF (75 miles), the Helena-Lewis & Clark NF (15 miles), the BLM Clancy & Pipestone Recreation Areas (44.5 miles), and the BLM Shepherd Ah Nei Recreation Area (19 miles). Montana Wilderness Volunteer Trail Crew This project will fund volunteer trail $ 25,824.00 Association Project: Eight Trail crews on eight individual multi-day Maintenance Projects projects across Montana, totaling Across Montana approximately 25 miles of maintenance.

National Park Yellowstone River Trail This project will fund an MCC trail $ 11,250.00 Service-Yellowstone Restoration Project (Phase crew to conduct drainage and National Park II) restoration work on the Yellowstone River Trail between Blacktail Creek and Cottonwood Creek (approximately 3 miles) in Yellowstone National Park.

Seeley Lake Nordic Seeley Lake Nordic Ski This project will fund winter $ 6,830.00 Ski Club Trail Maintenance, grooming and trail Grooming, and maintenance/improvement projects Improvements Project on the Seeley Creek Nordic Ski Trails.

Seeley Lake ROCKS Hill 16 Community Trail This project will fund the $ 23,920.00 System Construction construction of 0.5 miles of trail, the Project (Phase 2) reconstruction 4.5 miles of road to trail tread, the installation of trail signage, and the controlling of trailside weeds at the Hill 16 Community Trail System adjacent to Placid Lake State Park near Seeley Lake. Selway Bitterroot Selway Bitterroot This project will fund nine single and $ 14,142.57 Frank Church Wilderness Trail multi-day volunteer projects between Foundation Restoration Project July and August 2020 to clear and restore approximately 19 miles of trails within the Bitterroot National Forest.

Silver Crest Trails Silver Crest Nordic Ski This project will fund winter $ 10,900.00 Association Trails Grooming and grooming and trail maintenance Maintenance Project on 12 miles of cross-country ski trails at Kings Hill near Neihart.

Swan Valley Mission Mountains and This project will fund maintenance of $ 45,000.00 Connections Swan Front Trails and approximately 92 miles of Backcountry Services established trails in the Mission Project Mountains Wilderness and Swan Front Trails in the Swan Watershed. Three Forks, City of Jefferson Street Loop Trail This project will fund the $ 60,000.00 Project construction of 1.4 miles of asphalt trail along Jefferson Street on the west side of Three Forks.

Troy Snowmobile Troy-Area Snowmobile This project will fund winter $ 25,000.00 Club Grooming and Trail grooming and trail maintenance of Maintenance Project snowmobile and multi-use trails on the Kootenai National Forest near Troy.

University of Missoula M Trail This project will fund the $ 26,600.00 Montana - Research Rehabilitation Project rehabilitation of 0.75 miles of the M and Sponsored Trail in Missoula, including installing Programs rock and treated-wood waterbars, rebuilding eight switchback stairs, and replacing shortcut control fencing.

USFS-Custer Gallatin USFS Beartooth Ranger This project will fund approximately $ 35,000.00 National Forest- District Trail Maintenance 260 miles of maintenance and 6 miles Beartooth Ranger and Improvement Project of trail improvement on Initial Creek District #92, West Rosebud #19, and Line Creek Basin #7.4 trails within the USFS Custer-Gallatin National Forest, Beartooth Ranger District.

USFS-Custer Gallatin USFS Bozeman Ranger This project will fund volunteer $ 30,000.00 National Forest- District Trails and coordination and seasonal staff to Bozeman Ranger Volunteer Coordinator increase maintenance capacity on District Project 300 miles of summer trail and 100 miles of winter trail within the USFS Custer-Gallatin National Forest, Bozeman Ranger District.

USFS-Custer Gallatin Cooke City Winter This project will fund a winter trail $ 13,790.00 National Forest- Recreation Safety and steward to increase winter recreation Gardiner Ranger Awareness Project safety, awareness and education for District motorized and non-motorized recreationalists through personal contacts, signage, and publications in the Cooke City Area. USFS-Custer Gallatin USFS Yellowstone Ranger This project will fund the $ 30,000.00 National Forest- District Trail Maintenance maintenance of 178 miles of trails Yellowstone Ranger Project within the USFS Custer-Gallatin District National Forest, Yellowstone Ranger District, including clearing downfall, cleaning and installing drainage structures, public education, sign installation, and trailhead maintenance. USFS-Flathead Northwest Montana This project will fund daily avalanche $ 35,000.00 Avalanche Center Avalanche Forecasting forecasts and avalanche awareness and Awareness Project for over 150,000 motorized and non- motorized recreationalists in northwest Montana.

USFS-Flathead USFS Tally Lake Ranger This project will fund general $ 35,000.00 National Forest- District Front-Country maintenance of front-country trails Swan Lake Ranger Trails Maintenance and and reconstruction of a historical District (Tally RD) Historic Trail section of the Ralph Thayer National Reconstruction Project Recreation Trail within the USFS Flathead National Forest, Tally Lake Ranger District.

USFS-Gallatin Southwest Montana This project will fund daily avalanche $ 35,000.00 National Forest- Avalanche Forecasting forecasts and avalanche awareness Avalanche Center and Awareness Project for motorized and non-motorized recreationalists on the USFS Custer- Gallatin National Forest in southwest Montana.

USFS-Helena Lewis USFS Lincoln Ranger This project will fund the $ 16,476.00 and Clark National District Beaver Creek construction of 1.23 miles of Forest-Lincoln Mountain Bike Trail mountain-bike trail in the Beaver Ranger District Construction Project Creek area within the USFS Helena- (Phase 2) Lewis & Clark National Forest, Lincoln Ranger District.

USFS-Kootenai Kootenai National Forest This project will fund bi-weekly $ 19,092.00 National Forest Avalanche Forecasting avalanche forecasts and avalanche and Awareness Project awareness for motorized and non- motorized recreationalists in Lincoln and Sanders Counties. USFS-Lolo National USFS Ninemile Ranger This project will fund a seasonal and $ 24,460.00 Forest-Ninemile District Straight Creek MCC crew to complete heavy trail Ranger District Heavy Maintenance and maintenance and puncheon Puncheon Reconstruction reconstruction on Straight Creek and Project several trails within the USFS Lolo National Forest, Ninemile Ranger District.

USFS-Lolo National USFS Plains/Thompson This project will fund improvements $ 97,800.00 Forest- Falls Ranger District to the River Trail #223, Plains/Thompson Expanding Multi-Use enhancements to the Ferry Landing Falls Ranger District Recreation Opportunities Day Use Area and River Trail on the Cutoff Road Hwy Trailhead, and construction of the 135 Corridor Project 3.5-mile Falls Flats Trail within the USFS Lolo National Forest, Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District.

West Yellowstone West Yellowstone This project will fund daily winter $ 55,000.00 Chamber of Snowmobile Trail grooming on 212 miles of Commerce Grooming Project snowmobile and multi-use trails on the Custer-Gallatin National Forest and Caribou-Targhee National Forest.

West Yellowstone Rendezvous Ski Trails This project will fund winter $ 30,000.00 Ski Education Grooming and grooming and trail maintenance on Foundation Maintenance Project 21.75 miles of cross-country ski trails at the Rendezvous Ski Trails area near West Yellowstone.

Whitefish Legacy Smith Lake Recreation This project will fund Whitefish Trail $ 46,000.00 Partners Development and construction and lakeshore Maintenance Project improvements at Smith Lake and maintenance on 43 miles of trail and 13 trailheads. Smith Lake improvements include 4.5 miles of new trail, improved access to Smith Lake, and a pedestrian bridge.