WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $829,000 from the Great American Outdoors Act to improve outdoor recreation opportunities on the Maah Daah Hey Trail and perform maintenance to improve access to national grasslands in North Dakota.

Grants from the Great American Outdoors Act funded the following projects:

  • $650,000 for Civilian Conservation Corp Campground updates near the Maah Daah Hey Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and Bakken Oil Formation. This project will update the campground to accommodate increased visitation and create dedicated loops for equestrians, tent and RV users for the premier campground associated with the Maah Dah Hey Trail. This project will expand the main trailhead, create a dedicated equestrian trailhead, improve parking, install a pressurized water system, and upgrade the pavilion and picnic tables to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. This grant is estimated to address $128,000 in deferred maintenance needs.
  • $164,000 for reconditioning, spot surfacing, and replacement  of culverts on seven roads to improve access to the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands. These road improvements will improve safety and better accommodate the increased use by permittees, local residents and recreationists that support the local economies. This grant is estimated to address $315,000 in deferred maintenance needs.
  • $15,000 for the Maah Daah Hey Trail Reroute and Trailhead. This project will reroute the trail and improve the trailhead to improve safety and visitor experience. Trail users are accessing the trail by parking on the shoulder of the road in a County right-of-way. The Maah Daah Hey Trail crosses road 742-2 on the crest of a hill creating unsafe conditions not only for the user but also for the traveling public. This grant is estimated to address $12,000 in deferred maintenance needs.

Background:

Senator Cramer cosponsored the Great American Outdoors Act, a comprehensive federal lands package, which Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed in August 2020 to address the maintenance backlog on national parks and public lands managed by the National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Education, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife Service.