Grand County’s trail ambassador program — a nationally recognized visitor education and stewardship initiative — will lose nearly $200,000 in funding this year following a 6-1 vote by the Grand County Commission on July 15 to approve a sweeping midyear budget amendment.
The $1.86 million general fund transfer, adopted to offset approximately 6% in tax revenue shortfalls and changes in state rules for tourism-related spending, reduces Grand County Active Transportation and Trails’ (GCATT) responsible recreation program by about $185,000 — the largest cut among three options considered.
The program stations trained staff at high-use trailheads, mostly on Bureau of Land Management land, to educate visitors, promote safety, reduce resource damage and support responsible human waste management.
GCATT Director Maddie Logowitz said she’s “grateful to have retained staff for the remainder of 2025.”
“Our biggest concern was that the program would be cut mid-year and that key staff and all of the knowledge about how the program operates would be lost,” Logowitz said. “By providing funding until the end of the year, even at a reduced rate, we have time to problem-solve new funding sources while keeping the bones intact.”
Commission reaches compromise
Commissioners largely agreed on the program’s value but differed on how much it should receive given budget constraints. The final compromise — proposed by Commissioner Jacques Hadler — preserves the program at reduced capacity through the end of 2025.
“This option three eliminates mountain bike trail ambassadors, eliminates climbing trail ambassadors, but those are activities that I very much support,” Hadler said. “It affects things directly, so this definitely hurts. It’s tightening the belt and I would prefer not to do it, but that’s what I’m supporting.”
Hadler, Logowitz and county administrators met prior to the vote to explore ways to partially fund the program, according to Commission Chair Bill Winfield.
“It just made sense to me to extend that program as best we could through the end of the year, and then start looking at how we’re going to meet the budget next year,” Winfield said, adding that more cuts, including across many departments, may be necessary if tax revenue continues to lag.
Commissioner Brian Martinez acknowledged the program’s value but said long-term funding questions remain. Commissioner Mary McGann, the lone dissenting vote, called the program “amazing” and said the county should work to fund it long term.
Loss of TRT eligibility drove cuts
Until this year, Grand County funded the trail ambassador program using transient room tax (TRT) revenue under the “establishing and promoting recreation, film and conventions” category — a portion of the law the county interpreted as allowing for visitor education and responsible recreation.
A 2024 state audit flagged concerns with this approach, concluding the program’s work was mitigation, not promotion. This year, after Martinez called for a broader review, Utah State Auditor Tina Cannon advised the county to avoid TRT promotion expenditures that didn’t “solicit, advertise, or market or enhance transient guest spending in a county.”
In June, the commission adopted a narrower legal interpretation in line with the auditor’s recommendation. As a result, the county reimbursed $617,741 in past TRT spending for responsible recreation funding – including for trail ambassadors – and redirected those expenditures to the general fund.
House Bill 456, which took effect July 1, amends Utah’s TRT law by clarifying that revenue collected under the “establishing and promoting” category must be used to actively support tourism, recreation, film or convention. It also creates an Outdoor Recreation Mitigation Grant Fund to help eligible counties pay for tourism-related impacts.
Impacts of trail ambassador cuts
The reduction will end trail ambassador staffing at popular mountain biking and climbing areas this fall and eliminate the program’s volunteer and business outreach efforts. Logowitz said the change cuts three ambassador positions — two for biking and one for climbing — and halts fall trainings for local guides and shop staff, which Logowitz said participants had consistently rated highly.
(Corie Spruill) A Trail Ambassador program table set up at the Mill Creek trailhead, providing information and assistance to trail users. Photo courtesy of Grand County Active Transportation and Trails.
She added that the cuts also eliminate funding for volunteer recruitment and retention, which helped expand the program’s reach at low cost by pairing volunteers with staff at busy trailheads.
Despite reductions, GCATT will retain three hiking ambassadors through October and one OHV ambassador through early November. Staff will continue distributing maps and wag bags and promoting safety and stewardship at Mill Creek, Grandstaff Canyon, Corona Arch, Poison Spider, Hells Revenge and Fins and Things. GCATT’s OHV education coordinator role will continue through the end of the year using separate grant funding.
The amendment also reduced other components of GCATT’s work, including dog waste outreach and distribution of OHV-focused spill kits. The responsible recreation and healthy trails coordinator positions were preserved but will require furloughs to cut costs.
In April, the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation honored the trail ambassador program with its 2025 Trail Program Award for advancing trail stewardship, visitor education and safety.
Community supports trail ambassador program
More than 10 residents spoke in strong support of the trail ambassador program during public comment at the July 15 meeting, calling it a nationally recognized model for visitor education, public health protection and responsible recreation.
Others emphasized the program’s role in reducing search and rescue calls, improving trail conditions and promoting Moab’s outdoor ethic.
Tony Mancuso, Colorado and Green Rivers program manager for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, praised the program as “award-winning and incredibly popular,” emphasizing the trail ambassador program’s role in rebuilding trust between the public and land managers.
Recreation planner Noelle Gignoux, who works with small mountain towns throughout the West on tourism and growth challenges, said the trail ambassador program is frequently cited as a national example of best practices.
“In our work, we reference the … trail ambassador program as a prime case study in how a community is doing things right,” Gignoux said. “To cut the funding would be short-sighted — a disservice to the local community, visitors, public lands and the reputation we’ve built for ourselves as a community who is doing some things right in recreation.”
Jonathan Dutrow, an environmental health scientist with the Southeast Utah Health Department, spoke in support of the trail ambassador program during the July 15 meeting, as the commission voted to renew a cost-share agreement funding half of the healthy trails coordinator position.
Since 2023, the county and health department have jointly supported the role to address health risks tied to human waste on public lands. The coordinator works closely with trail ambassadors to educate visitors, monitor high-use sites, and lead outreach efforts.
“There was a real potential for exposure to human pathogens and risk to infectious disease,” Dutrow said, citing past issues like shallow burial pits and illegal RV dumping.
He said the program and its partners have removed over 50,000 pounds of waste and distributed more than 18,000 wag bags. He added that the health department was concerned about potential program cuts and offered to help the county seek alternative funding.
Looking ahead
While scaled back for the rest of 2025, GCATT is actively pursuing new funding to sustain the trail ambassador program in future years. Logowitz said the program has secured $170,000 in state grants for 2026 and 2027 and is applying for a third this month. It also receives ongoing support from the City of Moab for Mill Creek staffing.
GCATT is exploring other grants, partnerships with national outdoor brands and seeking to renew a funding agreement with the BLM, which last contributed $30,000 in 2023. Although the agreement is still pending, Logowitz said the BLM continues to provide in-kind support — including trail materials, environmental surveys, NEPA compliance and heavy equipment work — valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Hadler, who helped launch the program in 2021 as a commissioner, said it was a direct response to overtourism and growing tension between residents and visitors.
“There was a lot of friction between locals and tourists at the time, especially motorized tourists,” he said. “And I think one aspect of the trail ambassador program that’s overlooked is that it’s gone a very long way toward alleviating some of those local versus tourist tensions.”
He added that the program is now a vital service that reflects well on the community, calling its ambassadors effective educators who help keep visitors safe and informed.
Logowitz said the program’s emphasis on sustainability aligns with the Utah Office of Tourism’s Forever Mighty initiative, which promotes responsible recreation as a way to sustain local economies while protecting natural resources.
“This shift from destination marketing to destination management, which takes the long view on how to ensure a long-term, stable tourism economy, is becoming the norm for tourism destinations worldwide,” she said. “[The trail ambassador program] has been recognized on state, national and international levels as a successful program that’s leading the way in the industry and that other communities want to emulate.”
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