Applications have flooded into the inaugural year of a newly established grant program to restore and build new motorized and nonmotorized trails across the state.
Doug Beck, outdoor recreation program manager with the Bureau of Parks and Lands said many of Maine's trails have been battered by years of underfunding, crowding during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly severe storms.
"The combination of all of that results in just the decimation of the trail infrastructure," Beck said. "Virtually all trails are experiencing increased use, increased damage."
Until now, money to address the problem has been scarce. But last year voters overwhelmingly approved borrowing $30 million to fund improvements.
The grant program intends to offer $7.5 million a year for four years. Beck said the applications received in the first round wanted more than double the yearly limit.
"We’ve got applications for over $16 million in the first grant round, one could do the math and think that we could burn through $30 million in two years easy," Beck said.
The bureau said more than 100 applications were submitted and included proposals in every Maine county.
Half the bond is set aside for multi-use trails, with 25% each reserved for motorized and non motorized trails.
