Photo credit: Village of Hazel Crest
National Park Service Announces the Availability of $3 Million in Grants for Outdoor Recreation in Cities
National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis announced the availability of $3 million in grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for a new “Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership” program. These funds will help acquire and/or develop land for public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Details of the grant program, including the application process, are available online at http://go.usa.gov/9jEk.
“Unfortunately, there are communities and neighborhoods in cities across the country that lack places and opportunities for residents, especially youth, to play, recreate, or otherwise be active outdoors,” Jarvis said. “This new program will help fill those gaps and give our youth a quality, safe place in their own neighborhood to get outside, play and re-connect with the outdoors.”
The Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grants are available to state and local government agencies, as well as federally-recognized Indian tribes within or serving areas having populations of 50,000 or more people and consisting of densely settled territory. Matching 1:1grants will be awarded in amounts between $250,000 and $500,000 federal share. Proposals, whether state or locally-sponsored, must be submitted by each state’s Land and Water Conservation Fund lead agency and are due in grants.gov by 10 p.m. on August 15, 2014.
This new nationally competitive program complements the existing National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund State and Local Assistance Program by creating new opportunities for outdoor play as well as developing or enhancing outdoor recreation partnerships in cities. Selected projects will showcase how partners at all levels can work collaboratively to leverage investment and support close-to-home recreation opportunities that will help connect youth to public lands.
Created by Congress in 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund uses a small share of revenues from offshore oil and gas leasing in Federal waters to support a wide variety of outdoor recreation and conservation projects at the Federal, state, and local level. These projects create jobs, support local economies, preserve natural areas, and increase outdoor recreational opportunities across the United States while balancing the environmental impacts associated with resource extraction by ensuring that new parks and open spaces are accessible to all Americans.