It concentrates on conserving rail corridors which would otherwise be abandoned for use as trail or for other compatible public purposes such as utility right of way. It is headquartered in Washington D.C. and has chapters in several Midwestern states. In Nebraska it cooperates closely with the Nebraska Trails Council and other local groups interested in preserving rail corridors being proposed for abandonment. Nebraska Trails Council's non-profit organization, the Nebraska Trails Foundation, supports the preservation and establishment of trails, including rail trails, in Nebraska. NTC has been actively involved in the creation of a rail-trail linking the more heavily populated Omaha and Lincoln areas and in numerous other Nebraska projects.
Rail trails are very popular in the Midwest.
South Dakota is developing a rail trail from Edgemont through Custer to Deadwood in the South Dakota Black Hills. Iowa has over twenty-five rail trails, the closest being the Wabash Trace Trail across the Missouri River from Nebraska. As a result of this interest, the Rails to-Trails Conservancy has entered into a contract to create the Cowboy Trail, the nation's longest rail trail, across Nebraska.