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American Trails at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

American Trails

To advance the development of diverse high quality trails and greenways for the benefit of people and communities through collaboration, education and communication to raise awareness of the value these trails offer.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
36
Grants FY2024still arriving
18
States reached
$102k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$876kEnvironment$472kEducation$70kCivil Rights$56kYouth Development$21kEmployment$17kScience & Tech$8k
02FY2024 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 36 grants below total $1,062,339, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,092,013 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $29,674 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $59k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $406k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $597k
$17,726
Median grant
18
States reached
$550k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WOOD RIVER TRAILS COALITION$101,993
COTTONWOOD CANYONS FOUNDATION$95,290
TREAD LIGHTLY INC$74,643
SEEDS ECOLOGY AND EDUCATION CENTERS$74,618
PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH INC DBA AMERICORPS ST LOUIS$69,700
WESTERN STATES ENDURANCE RUN FOUNDATION$68,300
BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTON$58,176
WESTERN STATES TRAIL FOUNDATION$54,627
THE WATERSHED RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTER$49,632
COLORADO FOURTEENERS INITIATIVE$41,960
AMERICAN HIKING SOCIETY$31,549
SELWAY BITTERROOT FRANK CHURCH FOUNDATION$29,371
SUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP$29,101
MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY TRUST$27,217
BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS$24,701
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 68% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%WOOD RIVER TRAILS COALITION: $102k → 7%MOUNTAIN BIKE THE TETONS: $13k → 7%NORTH SUPERIOR SKI AND RUNNING CLUB: $9k → 9%ALBORN DIRT DEVILS: $6k → 15%MONTANA CONSERVATION CORPS: $56k → 10%WESTERN STATES TRAIL FOUNDATION: $55k → 6%BAY AREA RIDGE TRAIL COUNCIL: $7k → 10%FRIENDS OF THE INYO: $8k → 10%REDWOOD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $10k → 17%THE WATERSHED RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTER: $50k → 17%ECO SERVANTS: $10k → 17%PENDLETON AREA SADDLE CLUB: $5k → 15%SEEDS ECOLOGY AND EDUCATION CENTERS: $75k → 10%NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INC: $13k → 11%SUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP: $29k → 11%WILD ALABAMA: $44k → 16%PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH INC DBA AMERICORPS ST LOUIS: $70k → 21%ICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE: $8k → 10%HEART OF OREGON CORPS: $17k → 10%TREAD LIGHTLY INC: $75k → 6%COLORADO FOURTEENERS INITIATIVE: $42k → 7%FRIENDS OF THE DILLON RANGER DISTRICT: $10k → 9%THE ACCESS FUND: $10k → 12%YEAR ONE INC: $11k → 12%MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY TRUST: $27k → 9%FOOTHILLS RAILS-TO-TRAILS COALITION: $8k → 9%BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTON: $58k → 11%METHOW VALLEY TRAILS COLLABORATIVE: $8k → 17%WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH: $8k → 19%PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION: $13k → 10%NEW YORK - NEW JERSEY TRAIL CONFERENCE: $15k → 7%WOZU INC: $10k → 33%BCH OF VA HIGHLANDS TRAIL ACCOUNT: $49k → 19%FRIENDS OF PATHWAYS: $12k → 5%TAHOE RIM TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $18k → 8%AMERICAN HIKING SOCIETY: $32k → 8%WORLD TRAILS NETWORK - HUB FOR THE AMERICAS: $10k → 10%THREE RIVERS LAND TRUST: $10k → 9%PULAKSI USERS GROUP: $20k → 7%WESTERN STATES ENDURANCE RUN FOUNDATION: $68k → 6%SUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP: $25k → 11%WILD ALABAMA: $23k → 16%WASHINGTON TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $20k → 9%BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTON: $42k → 11%BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS: $25k → 19%AMERICAN HIKING SOCIETY: $31k → 8%SAWTOOTH SOCIETY: $10k → 7%WILD ALABAMA: $10k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
OR
NV
WY
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
NC
SC
AL
TX
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

29%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$445k · 8 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +29% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 28 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
17

Total granted

$445k
$226k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+29%

Still filing today

100%
94%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $850k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’22’23’24
EnvironmentRecreation & SportsEducationYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyCivil RightsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • BC
    BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTON
    2× · 2023–2024 · $100k · revenue +13%
  • WA
    WILD ALABAMA INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $77k · revenue +55%
  • SW
    SUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP
    2× · 2023–2024 · $54k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • MC
    MONTANA CONSERVATION CORPS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $56k · revenue +12%
  • WT
    WASHINGTON TRAILS ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue +29%
  • HO
    HEART OF OREGON CORPS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $17k · revenue -11%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Pacific Crest Trail Association

The pacific crest trail association's mission is to advocate for the pacific crest trail as an inspirational outdoor experience, to connect people to the pct, and to conserve the trail.

—
2
Stewards of the Sequoia

Promoting Responsible Recreation and Environmental Stewardship

Environment
3
Alpine Trails Foundation

Trail maintenance

—
4
Scenic Montana Trails
—
5
The Colorado Trail Foundation

To provide, improve, and maintain, through voluntary public involvement and in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, a linear, non-motorized, sustainable, scenic, recreation trail corridor for hikers,…

Recreation & Sports
6
Trails Utah

Trails Utah is dedicated to trails advocacy, planning, funding, and construction in needed areas throughout the state.

Environment
7
National Pike Trail Council
Environment
8
Beaverhead Trails Coalition

Enhancement and development of trails on public lands in Beaverhead County

Environment
9
Gunnison Trails Inc

Gunnison Trails is a non-profit trail advocacy organization established to assist land managers and other organizations in maintaining existing trails, educating users on responsible trail-based recreation, and pursuing opportunities for…

Environment
10
Poudre Wilderness Volunteers

Poudre Wilderness Volunteers (PWV) is a Larimer County, Colorado, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996. The mission of PWV is to assist the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the United States Forest Service in managing and…

Environment
11
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust dba Yosemite Rivers Alliance

At Yosemite Rivers Alliance, we unite conservation and community to protect and restore the three rivers that ?ow through the Yosemite Regionthe Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced.

—
12
Conasauga District Trail Volunteers Inc

Maintain Trails for US Forest Service

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is North Country Trail Association Incorporated; the most unlike its peers is Wozu Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

51 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 51 of the 53 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
51/51
Grantees still filing
31/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTON: $100,000 · EnvironmentBACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTONCOTTONWOOD CANYONS FOUNDATION: $95,290 · EnvironmentCOTTONWOOD CANYONS FOUNDATIONSEEDS: $74,618 · EnvironmentSEEDSBACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF THE VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS: $74,032 · EnvironmentBACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF THE VIRGINIA HIGHLAND…SUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP: $54,446 · EnvironmentSUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIPSELWAY-BITTERROOT FOUNDATION INC: $36,870 · EnvironmentSELWAY-BITTERROOT FOUNDATION INCThe Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $27,217 · Environment+15 more: $161,546 · Environment+15 moreWOOD RIVER TRAILS COALITION INC: $101,993 · Recreation & SportsWOOD RIVER TRAILS COALITION …TREAD LIGHTLY INC: $74,643 · Recreation & SportsTREAD LIGHTLY INCWESTERN STATES TRAIL FOUNDATION: $54,627 · Recreation & SportsWESTERN STATES TRAIL FOUNDAT…COLORADO FOURTEENERS INITIATIVE: $41,960 · Recreation & SportsCOLORADO FOURTEENERS INITIAT…Idaho Trails Association: $20,652 · Recreation & SportsIdaho Trails AssociationTahoe Rim Trail Association: $17,726 · Recreation & SportsNew York-New Jersey Trail Conference Inc: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsMountain Bike the Tetons Inc: $12,701 · Recreation & Sports+4 more: $37,651 · Recreation & Sports+4 moreWILD ALABAMA INC: $77,334 · OtherWILD ALABAMA INCAMERICAN HIKING SOCIETY: $63,026 · OtherAMERICAN HIKING …WASHINGTON TRAILS ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · OtherWASHINGTON TRAIL…NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $13,142 · OtherNORTH COUNTRY TR…Carolina Mountain Club Incorporated: $12,250 · OtherCarolina Mountai…THE ACCESS FUND: $9,804 · OtherICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC: $8,000 · Other+3 more: $18,770 · Other+3 morePARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH: $69,700 · EducationPARTNERSHI…THE WATERSHED RESEARCH & TRAINING CENTER: $49,632 · EducationTHE WATERS…WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION: $8,424 · EducationWEST VIRGI…ROUTT COUNTY RIDERS: $6,383 · EducationWestern States Endurance Run Foundation: $68,300 · PhilanthropyMONTANA CONSERVATION CORPS INC: $55,870 · Civil RightsYEAR ONE INC: $11,000 · Youth DevelopmentWOZU INC: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentHEART OF OREGON CORPS INC: $17,288 · Employment
Environment$624,019Recreation & Sports$376,953Other$222,326Education$134,139Philanthropy$68,300Civil Rights$55,870Youth Development$21,000Employment$17,288

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWOOD RIVER TRAILS COALITION INC: $101,993 over 1y, 17% of budgetBACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF WASHINGTON: $100,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCOTTONWOOD CANYONS FOUNDATION: $95,290 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetWILD ALABAMA INC: $77,334 over 3y, 10% of budgetTREAD LIGHTLY INC: $74,643 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetSEEDS: $74,618 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetBACK COUNTRY HORSEMEN OF THE VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS: $74,032 over 2y, 70% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR YOUTH: $69,700 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetWestern States Endurance Run Foundation: $68,300 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetAMERICAN HIKING SOCIETY: $63,026 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetMONTANA CONSERVATION CORPS INC: $55,870 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWESTERN STATES TRAIL FOUNDATION: $54,627 over 1y, 13% of budgetSUPERIOR WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP: $54,446 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE WATERSHED RESEARCH & TRAINING CENTER: $49,632 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCOLORADO FOURTEENERS INITIATIVE: $41,960 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSELWAY-BITTERROOT FOUNDATION INC: $36,870 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetThe Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust: $27,217 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetIdaho Trails Association: $20,652 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetPULASKI USERS GROUP INC: $20,105 over 1y, 51% of budgetWASHINGTON TRAILS ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW MEXICO WILDERNESS ALLIANCE: $18,203 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTahoe Rim Trail Association: $17,726 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHEART OF OREGON CORPS INC: $17,288 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNew York-New Jersey Trail Conference Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetNORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $13,142 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMountain Bike the Tetons Inc: $12,701 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetPRINCE WILLIAM SOUND STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION: $12,626 over 1y, 11% of budgetScarborough Land Conservation Trust: $12,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF PATHWAYS: $12,464 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetYEAR ONE INC: $11,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of the Dillon Ranger District: $10,104 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSAWTOOTH SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetTHREE RIVERS LAND TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetREDWOOD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetECO SERVANTS: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetWORLD TRAILS NETWORK - HUB FOR THE AMERICAS: $10,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetWOZU INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetThe Trail Conservancy: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ACCESS FUND: $9,804 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNorth Superior Ski and Running Club: $8,687 over 1y, 13% of budgetFriends of the Inyo: $8,452 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetWEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORPORATION: $8,424 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILDERNESS VOLUNTEERS GIVING SOMETHING BACK: $8,124 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMethow Valley Trails Collaborative: $7,990 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetBay Area Ridge Trail Council: $7,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAlaska Trails: $6,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetROUTT COUNTY RIDERS: $6,383 over 1y, 1.4% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

National Forest Found…National Wilderness S…PatagoniaorgNational Fish and Wil…National Park Foundat…The Nature ConservancyResources Legacy FundIbm International Fou…Partnership for the N…National Park Trust I…River NetworkGe Aerospace Foundati…
National Forest FoundationMT46× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Forest Foundation · National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance · Patagoniaorg · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · National Park Foundation · The Nature Conservancy · Resources Legacy Fund · Ibm International Foundation · Partnership for the National Trails System Inc · National Park Trust Inc · River Network · Ge Aerospace Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization American Trails funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Trails. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 28%
  • Heart of Oregon Corps Inc: 28% of income from government
  • American Hiking Society: 14% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to American Trails?

Find your warmest path to American Trails through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 53 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on American Trails’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home