AUSTIN, Texas — Central Texas is getting nearly $900,000 in grant funding to build and maintain new hiking trails. The money comes from the National Recreational Trails Fund.
Nearly $300,000 will be used to build a 1.4-mile trail addition to the Emerald Crown Trail in Hays County.
Texas State University will get about $135,000 to build a 1-mile multiuse trail.
Another $300,000 will go toward a 2-mile addition to the San Marcos Outer Loop Trail.
In Travis County, $150,000 will go to Ecology Action of Texas to renovate 2 miles of trail in Circle Acres and Guerrero Park.
The funding is part of more than $4.5 million in grants approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission on Thursday going toward 16 trail construction and maintenance projects across the state.
The National Recreational Trails Fund supports recreational trail construction, renovation and acquisition through grants funded from a portion of the federal gas tax generated by fuel purchases for off-highway vehicles. The fund must be used to support a diverse mix of both motorized and non-motorized trail projects.
The Texas Legislature has added an additional $1 million per year to the program and may include additional funds for this year from the Sporting Goods Sales Tax. Several projects funded in previous years were completed under budget or were canceled, creating another $900,000 available for re-allocation this year.