Special Funding Received
On July 21 we received exciting news. MATC worked diligently this spring on a special funding opportunity through Senator Susan Collins and Senator Angus King’s offices. Once known as “earmarks,” federal funding for projects is now called Congressionally Directed Spending requests. MATC submitted our request for $475,000 to support the Maine Trail Center project back in March 2023. Senator Collins and Senator King had both endorsed the request, and it was submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where Senator Collins serves as Vice Chair. The request for the Maine Trail Center cleared those first two hurdles, and we have now learned that the last hurdle is the full House and Senate vote on the FY2024 federal budget, sometime later this calendar year. This request reflects the excellent work of Holly Sheehan, Club Coordinator; Brendan Mysliwiec, Appalachian Trail Conservancy Director of Federal Policy; and Tom Gorrill, MATC President. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed!