Hiker in the Presidential Range, White Mountain National Forest, NH. Photo by Corey David Photography.
By now you’ve heard the news: Federal funding frozen or retracted. Project stoppages, staff reductions, and legislative rollbacks. These actions threaten public lands, scientific research, recreation, and the long-term health of the environment in our region.
At AMC, we’ve been involved in protecting the outdoors for almost 150 years. Our work helped establish the National Forests in the eastern United States, built and maintained beloved trails, drove federal funding for land protection, informed the Clean Air and Water Acts, and kept hikers safe in the backcountry.
We rely on federal partnerships to connect people to the outdoors and protect the landscapes we love from Maine to Virginia. Without federal funding, this work gets a lot harder—but you can help keep us moving by becoming an AMC member, joining us in advocacy, volunteering with AMC, and donating to support our work.
AMC Professional Trail Crew, White Mountain National Forest, NH. Photo by Corey David Photography.
What We Stand to Lose
- Trails won’t be maintained. This includes a major, multiyear project to restore Franconia Ridge Trail Loop in the White Mountain National Forest that was authorized in 2021. With funding frozen, we can’t hire trail crews, and this project will grind to a halt. Many trails will fall into disrepair.
- Land conservation is at risk. AMC is the national coalition leader for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which has protected our favorite outdoor spaces for over 60 years, at no cost to taxpayers. Now, what was supposed to be permanent funding for LWCF is at risk. With millions of dollars held up, this will deeply impact the work we do with partners—as well as AMC’s own multimillion-dollar grant request to help protect the Barnard Forest in Maine.
- Environmental research is at risk. Grants from federal entities like the National Science Foundation, the EPA, and NOAA, support AMC’s research across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on ecosystem resilience, climate change, watershed integrity, fisheries restoration, air and water quality, snowpack, and forest management and ecology. With funding in limbo, critical research projects are on pause, and scientists can’t be hired to perform essential fieldwork.
- Habitat restoration is at risk. The federal government has reduced staffing and funding for NOAA that impact a potential grant for fish passage restoration in Maine—funding AMC needs to restore habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon and native brook trout. Are you a fisherperson? Do you enjoy watching fish runs? Fish need access to their habitat.
- Safe and enjoyable outdoor experiences are at risk. Agencies like the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife are hard hit by staffing cuts. And the lands we all love—the places where we hike, bike, paddle, stargaze, and make core memories with our friends and family—are at risk of being parceled off for private profit, with dozens of legislative rollbacks on the docket to open them up to private oil and gas interests.
Barnard Forest, Maine. Photo by The Conservation Fund | © Jerry Monkman/EcoPhotography
AMC will continue to work.
As a non-profit partner of land management agencies and as a dedicated voice for the outdoors since 1876, AMC is ready for this moment.
- We’re on Capitol Hill and district offices meeting with representatives to protect the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
- We’re leading with volunteers and pro trail crews on state and private land. We’ll perform critical trail maintenance around AMC huts and lodges, which receive tens of thousands of visitors a year.
- We’re continuing our 60+ year record of air and water quality monitoring in the Northeast. We know our long-term monitoring data is invaluable for research partners and academic institutions to plan for our uncertain climate future.
- We’re providing visitor services, backcountry support, and land management. When you visit an AMC destination, you find clear trails, volunteer naturalists, and clean campsites so you can have a joyful stay in the outdoors.
We’re not backing down. AMC is here to stay.
White Mountain National Forest, NH. Photo by Corey David Photography.
What You Can Do to Help
- Renew your membership, or become an AMC member. Having a strong coalition enhances our advocacy reach (90,000 voices are hard to ignore!) and directly supports our work protecting the outdoors.
- Sign up for AMC’s Conservation Action Network (CAN) to receive breaking calls to action, and to influence the way your representative votes.
- Become a volunteer. Support AMC’s mission – and gaps in outdoor rec caused by federal cuts—by helping to maintain and repair public trails, leading a trip, sharing your skills, speaking up for conservation, or participating in community science.
- Make a donation to AMC. While some of our work is funded by the state and federal grants, it’s contributions from outdoor enthusiasts like you that are the chief driver of our work.