U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s office pointed that he played a big role in the House version of the bill that got the Colorado trails on the priority list. He was one of the House bill’s 86 co-sponsors, along with Colorado Reps. Mike Coffman, Jared Polis and Scott Tipton of Cortez.

“This is an excellent bill for Colorado, for tourism, and everyone associates with our outdoor industry,” he said in a statement to Colorado Politics. “It was a great collaboration with Congresswoman Lummis to get this through the Natural Resources and Agriculture committees.”

More than 200 miles of trails on Colorado’s 14ers and 3,100 miles along the Continental Divide from Mexico to Canada are on the U.S. Forest Service’s new high-priority maintenance list.

The two trail systems dear to Colorado are among 15 designated as a result of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act, which was co-sponsored by Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and signed into law by President Obama in November 2016.

“People from all over the world travel to Colorado to hike 14ers and explore some of the best trails in the country,” Bennet said in a statement. “We applaud the Forest Service for working with local stakeholders to select our state’s popular peaks as areas to increase trail maintenance. A renewed focus on maintenance will improve public safety and protect high-alpine resources-both critical to the future of these trails.”

The legislation is aimed at addressing a backlog of maintenance the government estimates is more than $300 million.

Bennet’s bill called on the Forest Service to maximize existing resources and increase the role of volunteers to maintain Forest Service trails.

The U.S. Forest Service is in charge of 48 of Colorado’s 54 peaks that rise 14,000 feet or more above sea level.

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail crosses 770 miles in Colorado,  as well as 790 miles in New Mexico, 750 miles in Montana, 610 miles in Wyoming and 180 miles in Idaho.

The trail crosses 20 national forests along “a diverse route with some sections in designated wilderness areas and others running through towns, providing those communities with the opportunity to boost the local economy with tourism dollars,” Bennet’s office said.

“The trail maintenance backlog was years in the making with a combination of factors contributing to the problem, including an outdated funding mechanism that routinely borrows money from programs, such as trails, to combat ongoing wildfires,” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement.

The other trails on the high-priority list are:

Among the 86 co-sponsors of a House version of the bill were  Reps. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs;  Mike Coffman, R-Aurora; Jared Polis, D-Boulder; and Scott Tipton, R-Cortez.

“This is an excellent bill for Colorado, for tourism, and everyone associates with our outdoor industry,” he said in a statement to Colorado Politics. “It was a great collaboration with Congresswoman Lummis to get this through the Natural Resources and Agriculture committees.”

(Editor’s note: This story was updated to include information about the House version of the bill.)