Maine trail builders see grants as a path to growth

Maine trail builders see work and challenges grow with state grant program

SOUTH PORTLAND — On Friday, a crew from Maine Trail Builders worked along the Long Creek Trail, replacing bridges and moving lumber through one of the public projects now helping reshape the state’s trail-building industry.

For professional trail builders in Maine, the work has become more visible, more technical and more in demand. That shift is tied in part to the Maine Trails Program, backed by a $30 million bond approved by voters in 2024.

The state awarded $7.5 million in its first round of grants in 2025, funding 44 projects with awards of up to $250,000 each. A second round of grants is expected to be announced this fall.

Jedediah Talbot, who started building trails professionally in Maine in 2004, said the market looked very different when he entered the field. For his first five years, most of his work was in New Hampshire’s White Mountains because Maine jobs were difficult to find.

“It was an uphill battle for a long time,” Talbot said. “It’s a viable industry now.”

The state money has given many organizations the chance to move forward with projects they might otherwise have reduced or delayed. The program is open to municipalities and nonprofits, expanding the pool of public trail work available to builders who have often relied on private landowners.

In Lubec, Talbot’s company, OBP Trailworks, is replacing nearly 1,000 feet of deteriorated bog bridging on a local trail for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. The project will install a more accessible boardwalk.

Talbot said the grant helped him approach the work on a larger scale.

“We were able to think big, think comprehensively, think long term,” he said. “It’s really serving the state by allowing us to open our eyes to possibilities.”

Stuart Johnson, owner of Maine Trail Builders in Saco, said the grant program has changed the type of calls his company receives. In addition to trail construction, firms are being asked for help with planning and grant applications. Johnson said he hired a part-time GIS specialist to keep up with the demand.

His company has three clients that received first-round grants: the South Portland Land Trust, the city of Rockland and the Falmouth Land Trust.

Johnson said his business still values private landowner projects, but the state program has opened more doors to trails that can be used by the broader public.

“We love working with a lot of private landowners, but we also really want to make sure that the trails we love to build are able to be experienced by as many people as possible,” Johnson said.

The first round of grants shows how varied the work can be. Some projects require technical stone construction in remote areas. Others involve bridges for ATVs or snowmobiles, mountain biking trails, cross-country ski routes or upgrades that make multiuse trails more accessible.

That range has increased the need for builders with specific skills, said Ryan Gates, stewardship program coordinator for the Coastal Mountains Land Trust.

“You wouldn’t hire a trail builder to dig the foundation for your house, right?” Gates said. “Reciprocally, some of those excavation companies don’t belong building trails in the Maine woods.”

Gates is helping lead a Maine Trails Coalition working group focused on what the state needs to do to strengthen trail building as a profession. The group is also looking ahead to the point when the bond money runs out.

Maine has until 2034 to spend the funds and can distribute up to $7.5 million per year. If interest remains as high as it has been, the money could be gone by 2029. Officials and trail advocates are already discussing longer-term funding options.

“We have an opportunity right now with the money that’s available to do this really well and really high level,” Gates said. “This is an opportunity to really set ourselves up and bring ourselves to where other states are in terms of acknowledging that (trails) are a resource for the public.”

The profession is also growing beyond Maine. The Professional TrailBuilders Association now has about 150 member businesses, a 53% increase from 2018. Aaryn Kay, the association’s executive director, said surveys show employment among member companies rose 113% over that period. Average reported revenue per company increased from $490,000 in 2018 to $1.47 million in 2025.

Kay said public investment helps create steady demand for trail work.

“That kind of investment in trails just creates this pipeline of trail projects, and that ultimately does create the growth,” Kay said.

The association is pushing for trail builders to receive a standard federal occupational classification and is developing credential programs that could be used nationwide to help train workers.

“It’s a very niche industry,” Kay said. “How do we build awareness that this is a viable, long-term career?”

In Maine, builders say the industry has taken longer to develop than in some other parts of the country. New England’s short construction season, steep trails and long history of volunteer labor have all shaped how professional trail work evolved.

Steve Kasacek, trail development director at the Outdoor Sport Institute in Maine, has seen the field change over his career. He spent years working in the mountain biking world around the country and said trail planning once relied on simpler tools, including string laid across topographic maps. Today, builders use aerial mapping and geographic information system data.

“The way we approach trail development and trails management now is really more nuanced and complex and intentional than it was 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago,” Kasacek said.

Erin Amadon, owner of Town 4 Trail Services in Troy, said Maine is moving quickly toward the design and construction standards seen elsewhere.

“I think Maine is catching up to the rest of the country in terms of design standards, quality construction and thinking about alignments and the more sustainable route,” Amadon said. “We’re catching up, and we’re doing it at a good run.”

Even with the growth, builders caution that the industry has limits. Companies may not have enough crews to bid on every project they want, especially if grant-funded work continues at a high pace.

“There definitely will be some growing pains as we figure out the capacity to accomplish these projects, but I have hope that within our trail sector industry, that we’ll rise to meet those challenges,” Amadon said.

Recruiting new workers may also be difficult. Trail building can involve seasonal employment, travel, demanding schedules and heavy physical labor. Many builders in Maine came to the profession through nontraditional paths, and some now want to make entry into the field easier for others.

Johnson said he hopes trail building becomes a recognized career with clear standards and enough financial stability to retain workers.

“One of my big hopes is that this will become a profession like any other profession, where you have both high standards that we hold ourselves to and simultaneously that it is a financially viable thing for people to do as a longer-term career,” Johnson said.

For now, demand is strong.

“Pretty much every single person I know who does it is hiring,” Talbot said.