Roads leading to some of Oregonians’ favorite federal lands like Crater Lake, Mount Hood and Steens Mountain could lose funding by the end of the year.
The roads, bridges and trails leading into popular recreation areas get worn out and damaged from heavy visitor traffic and are costly to maintain. Since 2012, the Federal Lands Access Program has helped states and counties pay to keep these roads from falling into disrepair that could render national parks, forests and monuments unreachable.
But it’s about to expire.
So U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, and Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican, have introduced legislation to renew the program through 2031.
“This is all about access to public land,” Merkley said in an interview with OPB. “People in Oregon enjoy everything from camping, hiking, mushroom gathering, just being out in the wilderness — but you’ve got to have the roads that make that possible.”
Just over half of the land in Oregon is managed by federal agencies, primarily by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. But many of the roads leading into those federal lands are funded by the state or by rural counties with tight budgets.
A cyclist takes in the view of the Columbia River from the Columbia River Highway State Trail on Aug. 3, 2019 near Cascade Locks, Ore. For the last three decades, Oregon has been constructing a 73-mile carless trail between Troutdale and The Dalles. The project received some funding from the Federal Lands Access Program in 2021.
Photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation
“Given that 53% of Oregon is federal land, many rural counties struggle to fund the high costs of road maintenance and improvement through their local tax bases alone, despite these roads enduring significant federal and tourist traffic,” Erin Good, Association of Oregon Counties spokesperson, said in a statement.
Oregon gets a larger allocation than most other states due to the amount of recreation that happens on federal lands in Oregon. In 2024, the state’s share was about $35 million. Washington received about $11 million.
Since 2012, the program has dedicated about $385 million toward transportation projects in Oregon.
“These routes are the vital lifelines for our timber workers, our ranchers, and the millions of visitors who fuel our local recreation economies,” Erin Skaar, Tillamook County Commissioner and Association of Oregon Counties president, said in a statement.
One prominent beneficiary of the federal funding is the state’s Historic Columbia River Highway project. For almost three decades, the Oregon Department of Transportation has been working toward creating a 73-mile car-free trail between Troutdale and The Dalles.
Just the last mile of trail awaits funding.
In 2021, about $26 million from the Federal Lands Access Program paid for connecting a 1-mile segment at the Ruthton Park Trailhead in Hood River. That project still needs another $50 million.
