The Fight for National Trails

The fate of America’s public lands is at a crossroads. With sweeping federal budget cuts, mass job losses at key agencies like the Department of the Interior and the US Department of Agriculture, and a growing push for resource extraction under the banner of economic security, the future of national parks and trails has never felt more uncertain. At the heart of this shift sits a potential deepening of extractive policies that prioritize industry over conservation. In this episode, Manpreet Kaur Kalra sits down with Courtney Lyons-Garcia, Executive Director of Partnership for the National Trails System, to unpack what these changes mean for the protection and stewardship of America’s most treasured landscapes. We’ll explore how federal funding freezes are impacting nonprofit partners working on the ground, and what this means for how we experience the outdoors. But beyond the threats, we also discuss the paths forward—how Indigenous stewardship efforts are reshaping conservation, what policies we should be keeping a close watch on, and how everyday people can take action to safeguard public lands. Are we witnessing the systematic dismantling of public lands as we know them? And if so, what will it take to fight back? Tune in for a critical conversation about the intersection of policy, economics, conservation, and the power struggles defining America’s national trails.