SPI Insights

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $285 million in 556 deferred infrastructure improvements in national forests and grasslands for fiscal year 2021.

These U.S. Forest Service projects will benefit from the newly created National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund established to contribute to economic growth and job creation in rural America.

Project investments in 2021 will improve recreation facilities, visitor centers, dams, and trails. Other projects aim to increase public access by restoring and repairing roads, trails, bridges, tunnels, and parking areas.

About $31.5 million will be allocated to projects in USDA’s Rocky Mountain Region, including several improvements at Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. Funding will be used to complete the final phase of the stabilization and preservation of the historic Anderson Lodge. Additional improvements will involve removal of an old bridge, installation of a 30-foot footbridge, rehabilitation of an impacted water crossing, and construction of a trail to connect to the new bridge.

Several roads in Nebraska and South Dakota will be reconditioned as part of a placement and grading project across a significant geographical area of the Nebraska National Forest and Grasslands.

In Colorado, funds will go toward the reconstruction of the Kendall Reservoir dam to address safety concerns. Engineering and design have been completed. Another Colorado project will reconstruct multiple segments of the Crag Crest National Recreational Trail that travels across the crest of the largest flat-top mountain in the world. This project will resolve numerous safety hazards and erosion problems.