By Karen Bossick- Eye on Sun Valley
The Idaho Trails Association will have its first ever Youth Trail Projects this summer, thanks in part to a grant by the Wood River Women’s Foundation. And it will have its first fly-in projects where volunteers will be flown to some of the most remote and scenic parts of the Frank Church Wilderness to help clear hiking trails. If that’s not enough, the non-profit organization will conduct at least 45 projects this year—up from the one trail project it started with in 2010. Idaho Trails Association (ITA) was organized to provide volunteer labor on Idaho’s many trails in face of cutbacks to the U.S. Forest Service.
Idaho has more than 10,000 miles of non-motorized hiking on trails on public lands.
“These trails are a valuable resource and take visitors to some of the most beautiful parts of Idaho,” said Jeff Halligan. “Unfortunately, funding for the care and upkeep of these trails is far short of what is needed to keep most of them open and usable.
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