Public Comment Sought On State Trails Management Documents

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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on two documents charting the future of Montana’s state trails. The Montana State Trails Plan and the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) were prepared in cooperation with other managing agencies and trail users. The Montana State Trails Plan provides long-term, inter-agency direction for the statewide motorized and nonmotorized public trail system. Its goal is to strengthen Montana’s trail network by improving cooperation among agencies, organizations and individuals; increasing availability of funds; and better meeting the needs of trail users. The separate but related Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) recommends improvements to two trail-grant programs, administered by FWP, that allocate funding available through the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP), and the State Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Grant Program. The main trail uses covered in the document are hiking, off-road motorcycling, ATV riding, cross-country skiing, bicycling, back-country 4x4 driving, and horseback riding. Copies of the Montana State Trails Plan and PEIS will be available the first week in August by calling the FWP headquarters office in Helena at 406-444-3750. Executive summaries of both documents will also be posted on the FWP web site at fwp.state.mt.us under "State Parks." The deadline for comments is September 25.