A candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, Robin Smith, sent a letter to the Chattanoogan.com stating the Federal Administration’s National Recreation Trails Fund should be eliminated.

We must also be able to point to specific cuts in the budget to show our determination to deal with our debt and deficits. From examples as large as eliminating over payments for Medicare that will save billions, [b][u]to eliminating the Federal Highway Administration’s National (FHWA) Recreational Trails Fund[/u][/b] that would save $250 million over five years. We must be willing to say we can’t afford some of these projects in the current environment. There should be no project too large or too small to escape review to determine if it is needed and working. Our government does not need 49 separate job training programs. We can’t afford $820 million in one year for federal transportation funding of landscaping, museums, and other transportation “enhancements.”

- Robin Smith, candidate for the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s Third Congressional District

Source:  Chattanoogan.com – Opinion – July 26, 2010.

The FHWA Recreational Trails Fund is the source for Recreational Trails Program funding.

“The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both nonmotorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The RTP is an assistance program of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Federal transportation funds benefit recreation including hiking, bicycling, in-line skating, equestrian use, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-road motorcycling, all-terrain vehicle riding, four-wheel driving, or using other off-road motorized vehicles.

The RTP funds come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, and represent a portion of the motor fuel excise tax collected from nonhighway recreational fuel use: fuel used for off-highway recreation by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-highway light trucks.

The RTP funds are distributed to the States by legislative formula: half of the funds are distributed equally among all States, and half are distributed in proportion to the estimated amount of nonhighway recreational fuel use in each State.

Source: FHWA – Recreational Trails Program website

Many Tennessee Trail Projects have benefited from the Recreational Trails Programs grants, including the  Cumberland Trail State Park, Harrison Bay State Park trails and the new trails at Hamilton County’s Enterprise South Nature Park, just to name a few, which are located within a half hour from the candidates own house in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee.

At the present time it does not appear that the other candidates have taken a position regarding future support of the FHWA Recreational Trail Fund.  If and when their positions are made known they will be posted for your consideration.

This is not being provided as an endorsement of any particular candidate.  It is merely being provided to help educate trail users on a known political position of a candidate seeking seeking public office.

UPDATE (August 5, 2010): The primary election results are in and Chuck Fleischmann beat Robin Smith and several other for the republican nomination. He will now face democrat John Wolfe for the 3rd District Congressional Seat.

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