VOLUNTEER & FIELD OPERATIONS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Muddy Pass Priority Gap

An area near Muddy Pass, CO continues to be a top priority for trail completion efforts by CDTC, as the trail is now 96% complete. In this area, CDT travelers are diverted onto a busy highway to roadwalk between patchworks of available public lands. CDTC has secured funding to hire a seasonal intern in 2023 to work in full dedication to this project and to help build local support.

New Mexico State Lands Easement Acquisition - COMPLETE!

After years of work and dedicated support from The Conservation Alliance and our members, CDTC completed the permanent easement acquisition of 74 parcels of New Mexico State Lands to the Bureau of Land Management. As a result, 100% of the CDT in the state of New Mexico is on permanently protected public lands. In addition to permanent protections, the easement acquisition accomplishes the following:

1) CDTC and agency partners can more easily address trail maintenance and other impacts and improvements to the CDT

2) Future risk of development or resource extraction along these sections of the CDT is now mitigated

3) Permit requirements to access these sections of the CDT have been eliminated

As we move into our second decade of work along the CDT, volunteer and field projects remain the lifeblood of CDTC. Combined, CDTC and its partners provided over 76,000 volunteer hours valued at $2.29M in 2022 alone, collectively matched the federal funding allocation 10:1. We now have over 500 partners and volunteers committed to stewarding the CDT for the next generation and we are continually re-imagining ways to create more accessibility in our trail projects. CDTC is committed to ensuring communities and individuals are a central part of the work to protect and maintain the CDT, and we consistently provide education and skills-based training to hundreds of individuals along the trail each year. We are immensely grateful and thank our volunteers for all you do on behalf of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.

Trail Condition and Cultural Resource Assessments

In 2022, CDTC launched a multi-year effort to collect detailed and accurate information regarding the condition of the CDT. This data will inform the State of the Trail Report which CDTC and agency partners use to prioritize maintenance and construction work along the trail. Additionally, in partnership with Amanda Grace from the US Forest Service, CDTC launched a Cultural Assessment of the CDT to better understand the ancestral significance of the CDT landscape to Indigenous peoples, and to inform our future trail completion work.

2021 Field Programs Accomplishments

65,818 feet of trail corridor cleared

1,100 feet of trail reconstructed

353 Trail Adopters 65 cairns or structures built