CDTC News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bicameral Continental Divide Trail Completion Act was reintroduced last week, sponsored by Sens. Martin Heinrich (NM) and Steve Daines (MT) and Reps. Joe Neguse (CO) and Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM). The bill directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to prioritize completion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) within ten years of enactment.
The CDT was designated as a National Scenic Trail in 1978. Nearly fifty years later, 160 miles of the trail are still routed on highways and busy roadways. These “gap areas” are incompatible with the purposes for which the trail was designated and make for an unsafe journey for long-distance hikers and horseback riders seeking a continuous path between Mexico and Canada.
The CDT Completion Act directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to create a Trail Completion Team. Composed of staff from the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, the Trail Completion Team would be responsible for relocating gap areas onto safe, protected, enjoyable, and scenic trails. The CDT Completion Act does not directly acquire any lands, and the bill establishes that eminent domain will never be used in the completion of the CDT. Any government spending required to complete the CDT would be subject to congressional appropriations processes.
The CDT Completion Act was introduced in the previous two sessions of Congress. In the 118th session, the bicameral CDT Completion Act was introduced in March of 2023 and was reported favorably out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but the bill never received a floor vote.
Major gap areas remain in all five states through which the CDT passes, with significant gaps in northern New Mexico, northern Colorado, southern Wyoming, and along the Idaho-Montana border. In addition to creating a continuous footpath along the Continental Divide, completion of the CDT will improve local community access to the Continental Divide Trail and support economic development through outdoor recreation. “Completing the CDT is not just about closing the gaps — it’s about all the benefits that result from ensuring connections to one of the country’s most important landscapes exist for future generations,” Teresa Martinez said, Executive Director of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition.