Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership

Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership is sponsored by Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. Provides grants to urban communities and tribes to create or reinvigorate public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces, with a focus on underserved communities.

RCO - Washington Recreation & Conservation Office --> Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership - RCO Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership This program provides grants to help urban communities with 25,000 or more people and tribes create or reinvigorate public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces.

Grant Application Schedule PRISM Opens for Application March 19, 2025 - April 2, 2025 Technical Completion Deadline RCO Submits Applications to National Park Service National Park Service Selects Projects for Award If selected, additional application materials will be required. September 30, 2025 Estimate September 30, 2026 Estimate Most recent grants and evaluation results, listed by the application year.

Applicant Authorization Resolution Assurances for Construction Programs (SF-424D) Certification of Applicant Match Form Electronic Signature Authorization Form Fiscal Data Collection Sheet Manual 3: Acquisition Projects Manual 4: Development Projects Notice of Funding Opportunity The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides funding to preserve and develop outdoor recreation resources, including parks, trails, and wildlife lands.

In 2014, Congress established the Land and Water Conservation Fund Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program, which provides grants to help urban communities with twenty-five thousand or more people and tribes buy or develop land to create or reinvigorate public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces. Priority is given to projects in economically disadvantaged areas that lack outdoor recreation opportunities.

New for 2026: Here’s a sneak peek at upcoming changes: Acquisition of land currently or previously managed by a public entity is eligible. Sponsors have eighteen months from the board funding meeting to acquire land in a combination project. Earnest or option payments incurred before the execution of a grant agreement are an eligible pre-agreement cost if they are applied to the purchase price of the land acquired.

The objective of the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program is to improve parks, recreational opportunities, and conservation areas in urban underserved communities, consistent with the requirements of the LWCF Act and LWCF Manual.

To meet program objectives and goals, projects must be: Located within an incorporated city or town or unincorporated area having a population of 25,000 or more in the 2020 Census , AND within an underserved community, OR located on tribal nation or trust lands held by a federally recognized Native American tribe.

Underserved status can be demonstrated through documentation submitted by the community describing the demographic and environmental factors that indicate the need. Documentation of need should include information on current deficiency of access by the affected community to parks, conservation areas, and outdoor recreation opportunities.

Include information on descriptions of how this deficiency impacts the community in relevant ways (e.g., community health and safety, resilience to natural disasters, avoidance of legacy pollution, access to clean water and air, etc.). Also describe how the project is expected to provide community benefits.

Here are some additional resources applicants may use to document underserved status: Project Need Mapping Tool : This map is used to evaluate other RCO grant programs. It compiles data on green space availability, social vulnerability, and poor health outcomes from various statewide datasets.

Outdoor Recreation Inventory : This map includes information on more than 23,000 outdoor recreation areas, facilities, trails, and water access sites. It is used to understand the quantity and distribution of key outdoor recreation opportunities across the state. The dashboard also includes a service area analysis for outdoor recreation opportunities, such as accessing a local park or trail.

City Parks Alliance ORLP Technical Assistance Webinar Renovating community parks Building skate parks, swimming pools, and trails Building athletic fields and sport courts Nature-based projects that support recreation Special purpose districts, such as park and recreation districts Federally recognized tribes To apply for this funding, applicants must have completed a comprehensive recreation or conservation plan.

See details on the planning page and in Manual 2: Planning Guidelines . An estimated $224 million may be appropriated by Congress nationwide. Administrative or indirect costs are eligible; contact RCO to determine amount.

Architecture and engineering costs for development and renovation projects are limited to 20 percent of the total construction cost.

Match may include the following: Donations of cash, land, labor, equipment, and materials Federal (very limited), state, local, and private grants Applicant’s labor, equipment, and materials For local agencies, at least 10 percent of the total project cost must come from a non-state, non-federal contribution.

Development or renovation Game refuges or fish production facilities Historic sites and structures Lands acquired from the federal government at less than fair market value Land and facilities used primarily for semi-professional and professional arts and athletics Land for indoor facilities, except for covered swimming pools and ice rinks Land for agricultural purposes Land to help meet a public school’s minimum site size requirement Railroad hardware, trestles, stations, yards, etc. Luxury lodges, motels, cabins, and similar elaborate facilities that serve food and have sleeping quarters Museums and sites to be used for museums or primarily for archaeological excavations Scholastic and intercollegiate facilities Incidental costs relating to acquisition of real property or interests such as permits and surveys All property acquired or developed with these grants must be kept forever exclusively for public outdoor recreation use.

Some upcoming grant application deadlines may be adjusted due to the government shutdown. Find deadline updates on the corresponding grant pages. PRISM, RCO’s database for grant project management, is unavailable.

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