Storms tore up two of America's most iconic trails. Federal cuts have disrupted repairs

CAMPO, Calif. (AP) — Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is a challenge, especially for adventurers making the entire run from Southern California to Canada, and Eric Kipperman’s job is to greet them at the start and lay bare the difficulties ahead.

He has lately begun warning that the journey may be even tougher. Following cuts by the Trump administration, plans to clear downed trees and rebuild storm-battered stretches in 2025 have been scrapped.

“This year, we’re going to have less trail work done on the trails, so just know that going into your hike, safety is the most important thing,” Kipperman told a group of backpackers from Europe and the United States at the trailhead near Campo, California, an hour’s drive east of San Diego.

He cautioned there is “no trail” at all in parts of the 2,650-mile (4,265 kilometers) path through California, Oregon and Washington state.

The cutbacks are not just on the West Coast. Ahead of the busy summer hiking season, funding freezes and mass layoffs also are disrupting repairs on the East Coast's Appalachian Trail after nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) were damaged by Hurricane Helene, underscoring how President Donald Trump’s dramatic downsizing of the U.S. government is touching even the nation’s remote backcountry where vacationers, wanderers and escapists alike retreat to leave modern life behind.

Wildfires and more intense storms due in part to climate change have been taking a toll on the legendary trails. The federal cuts threaten their very existence, according to the Pacific Crest Trail Association and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which oversee their preservation in partnership with the government and receive millions in federal dollars.

The U.S. Forest Service called the situation “dynamic and evolving” in an email to The Associated Press, but said they are committed to ensuring public safety and access to recreation areas that are vital to local economies.

The Trump administration has let go some 3,400 workers at the U.S. Forest Service, and nearly 1,500 at the National Park Service, including trail repair specialists. The associations said the cuts also led to the rescinding of job offers for seasonal crews with technical skills to rebuild boardwalks, bridges and campsites and train thousands of volunteers.

Courts have ordered federal agencies to rehire thousands of workers, but some say they are not coming back.

“For hikers, they’re going to be crawling, navigating, working their way through downed trees across the trail that won’t get cut out,” said Justin Kooyman, director of the Pacific Crest Trail operations. “It’s going to make for a little more rough and tumble.”

While the trails are not in total disarray and many hikers may not see any damaged areas, maintenance is critical to their existence, the associations say. More than 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the Appalachian Trail remain closed following Helene and downed trees could fuel wildfires.

Last month, the Appalachian Trail turned 100 years old. The footpath stretches 2,193 miles (3,530 kilometers) between Georgia’s Springer Mountain and Maine’s Mount Katahdin.

Its founder, the late forest scientist Benton MacKaye, saw a need for a place to escape stress following the end of World War I and the 1918 flu epidemic.

The Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail officially became the country’s first National Scenic Trails under the 1968 National Trails System Act. Completing them has come to symbolize the strength of the human spirit, inspiring books and movies. Only a fraction are thru-hikers, a term for those who walk the trails from end to end. Many don’t succeed and several people have died trying. Most users hike for a day or two to enjoy the breathtaking beauty.

“I am so concerned with what seems to be a general lack of appreciation for what these protected outdoor spaces can bring to not just our physical well-being but to our souls,” said Sandi Marra, head of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. “If we lose these things, we are really going to be lost as a species, and definitely as a country.”

The Pacific Crest Trail Association said it is operating with a third less federal grant money than anticipated. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy said at least $1.5 million is at risk from federal downsizing.

The National Park Service said its funding has continued for the Appalachian Trail as it works to “address challenges collaboratively and seek solutions” to support the footpath's “enduring legacy."

Both trails already had a backlog of projects. Wildfires have scorched nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the Pacific Crest Trail in recent years.

The disruption exacerbates the deteriorating conditions and the spread of invasive plant species, which will ultimately increase costs, said Megan Wargo, head of the Pacific Crest Trail Association.

The Pacific Crest Trail crosses searing desert and traverses forests of giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees, before climbing by snow-covered peaks in the rugged Sierra Nevada. After snaking over 50 mountain passes, it ends in Washington’s remote Pasayten Wilderness at the Canadian border.

As the trail's popularity grew through social media and the bestselling memoir “Wild” that inspired a Hollywood film, drawing less experienced backpackers, the association hired what they call “crest runners."

Kipperman is one of two at the southern end. Their duties include greeting hikers at the Mexican border, checking their permits and providing safety tips before they set off. The crest runners normally work from March until August, covering the hottest, riskiest months for that section.

Last year, a crest runner also worked the northern end at the Canadian border. But this year they only will be at the southern end until mid-May unless more federal funds are unfrozen.

Kipperman, whose trail name is “Pure Stoke," is infectiously cheery as he rattles off the dangers from rattlesnakes to dehydration and distributes bags for discarded toilet paper. He steers clear of discussing politics and instead talks about protecting water quality, burying human waste, packing out trash and building safe campfires.

“Remove the ego. Address the situation. See if going forward is really the right thing for you,” Kipperman said, warning hikers to beware that Mile 225 or so is washed out.

After hearing Kipperman’s spiel, backpacker Joshua Suran said he planned to try helping restore the trail where possible.

Marias Michel of Germany trudged over, concerned about the weight of his backpack draped with gear, water bottles and a pair of Crocs. After quitting his job, he said he needed to do the trail, calling it “a resetting, a big detox.”

He was aware of the federal cuts but said he couldn’t worry about that.

“I’m just going to be learning by doing because I don’t want to be too much up here,” Michel said, pointing to his head. “I want to test myself. No expectations. It’s an attempt until you make it."

FILE - M.J. Eberhart, 83, carefully hikes the Appalachian Trail, Sept. 12, 2021, in Gorham, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Eric Kipperman, one of the Pacific Crest Trail Association's experienced guides known as "crest runners", takes a picture for a hiker balanced on the obelisk that marks the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail near the border with Mexico, Monday, March 24, 2025, near Campo, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Lauren Lamberts, right, and Joachim Van Hoye, both of Belgium, look for a way to cross over a section of the Pacific Crest Trail washed away by storms while trail repairs have been disrupted by federal cuts Thursday, April 3, 2025, near Whitewater, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Lauren Lamberts, left, and Joachim Van Hoye, both of Belgium, look for a way to cross over a section of the Pacific Crest Trail washed away by storms while trail repairs have been disrupted by federal cuts Thursday, April 3, 2025, near Whitewater, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

FILE - Robert Weiss of Tewksbury, Mass., left, photographs his brother-in-law, Matthew Ferri, of Dracut, Mass., and his wife, Andrea Weiss just before sunrise from their campsite on the Appalachian Trail in Beans Purchase, N.H., Sept. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - Alexandra Eagle, right, and Jonathan Hall stand in front of a waterfall on the Appalachian Trail in Cosby, Tenn., March 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Sarah Blake Morgan, File)

Lauren Lamberts, left, and Joachim Van Hoye, both of Belgium, rest and cool their feet in water flowing over a section of the Pacific Crest Trail washed away by storms while trail repairs have been disrupted by federal cuts Thursday, April 3, 2025, near Whitewater, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A hiker passes a trail marker for the Pacific Crest Trail Monday, March 24, 2025, near Campo, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Eric Kipperman, one of the Pacific Crest Trail Association's experienced guides known as "crest runners", center, speaks to hikers as they gather at the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail near the border with Mexico, Monday, March 24, 2025, near Campo, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Eric Kipperman, one of the Pacific Crest Trail Association's experienced guides known as "crest runners", right, takes a picture of hikers Joshua Suran, center, and Laura Flocchini as they get ready to begin their hike at the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail near the border with Mexico, Monday, March 24, 2025, near Campo, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Lauren Lamberts, of Belgium, left, dries her socks on her hiking poles as she takes a break with Joachim Van Hoye, also of Belgium, near where water flowing over a section of the Pacific Crest Trail washed away by storms while trail repairs have been disrupted by federal cuts Thursday, April 3, 2025, near Whitewater, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A tag hangs off the pack of hiker Laura Flocchini as she gets ready to begin the Pacific Crest Trail at the southern terminus near the border with Mexico, Monday, March 24, 2025, near Campo, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Lauren Lamberts, of Belgium, washes off her feet in water flowing over a section of the Pacific Crest Trail washed away by storms while trail repairs have been disrupted by federal cuts Thursday, April 3, 2025, near Whitewater, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Eric Kipperman, one of the Pacific Crest Trail Association's experienced guides known as "crest runners", center, speaks to hikers Joshua Suran and Laura Flocchini as they get ready to begin their hike at the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail near the border with Mexico, Monday, March 24, 2025, near Campo, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Lauren Lamberts, of Belgium, crosses water flowing over a section of the Pacific Crest Trail washed away by storms while trail repairs have been disrupted by federal cuts Thursday, April 3, 2025, near Whitewater, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Documents related to the 1968 assassinations of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy will soon be made public as more than 100 people have been working “around the clock” to scan them, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday.

The documents had been in boxes in storage for decades, Gabbard said.

"I’ve had over 100 people working around the clock to scan the paper around Sen. Robert F Kennedy’s assassination, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination ... They have never been scanned or seen before,” she said. “We’ll have those ready to release here within the next few days.”

When Kennedy’s son, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also was at the meeting, was asked by President Donald Trump about the impending release of the documents, he said, “I’m very grateful to you Mr. President.”

Trump asked Gabbard if the health secretary had any concerns about releasing the documents.

“His response is, ‘Put it out. The world needs to know the truth,’” Gabbard said.

Searches were also being done of storage lockers at the FBI, CIA and other agencies to see if other documents can be found, Gabbard said.

“We want to get it all out,” Trump said.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to questions seeking information about the effort to identify records about the MLK or RFK assassinations.

Trump had signed an executive order in January after taking office calling for the release of governmental documents related to the assassinations.

King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated within two months of each other in 1968.

King was outside a motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, when shots rang out. The civil rights leader, who had been in town to support striking sanitation workers, was set to lead marches and other nonviolent protests there.

James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to assassinating King. He later though renounced that plea and maintained his innocence up until his death.

Robert F. Kennedy, then a New York senator, was fatally shot on June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after giving his victory speech for winning California’s Democratic presidential primary. His assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was convicted of first-degree murder and is serving life in prison.

Earlier this week Gabbard announced the creation of a task force that will consider whether the government should declassify material about several other issues of public interest, including the origins of COVID-19, federal efforts to influence online speech and investigations into mysterious health symptoms reported by some U.S. diplomats and government employees that were once dubbed “ Havana syndrome.” Gabbard’s office did not specify how the task force would be appointed or when it expects to submit its recommendations.

Lozano reported from Houston.

Associated Press writer David Klepper in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at juanlozano70

Elon Musk, center, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, right, attend a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from left, speaks as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz listen during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Washington. (Pool via AP)

FILE - Senator Robert F. Kennedy, D-NY, told reporters, and the nation, that he is a candidate for his party's presidential nomination, March 16, 1968, Washington. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Dr. Martin Luther King speaks March 25, 1967 at the Chicago peace march. (AP Photo/Chick Harrity, File)