The Washington State Legislature created the Planning for Recreation Access program to fund planning projects in communities that lack adequate access to outdoor recreation opportunities. This program will specifically focus on diverse urban neighborhoods, small rural communities, and those that are less experienced with their grant process.
Donor Name: Reservation and Conservation Office
State: Washington
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/01/2022
Size of the Grant: $20,000 – $250,000
Details:
Grants may be used to support planning, community engagement, and collaboration between local governments, community-based organizations, and residents to define outdoor recreation needs, prioritize investments to address those needs, and prepare on-the-ground projects for RCO and other funding opportunities.
Priority Communities
This program is intended to provide communities with the planning resources necessary to be successful in future funding efforts, whether through other RCO grant programs or other avenues. All types of outdoor recreation opportunity planning are eligible including efforts related to developing local parks, trails, water access, community forests, boating, community athletics, and much more. Projects that combine multiple outdoor recreation opportunities and work across levels of government and private service providers are encouraged.
The PRA grant will prioritize projects that aim to address recreation access gaps in:
- Racially diverse neighborhoods in dense urban areas, and
- Small, rural communities.
In addition, the program will prioritize applicants and communities that have not received an RCO recreation grant in the past 10 years.
Grant range
RCO is anticipating awarding proposals ranging from $20,000 – $250,000 each and will consider projects outside of this range on a case-by-case basis.
Typical Projects
- Long-range, comprehensive recreation planning
- Cooperative recreation plan development
- Pre-design plans and permitting for a park or athletic facility
Criteria
A project sponsor is the organization that receives a grant. Eligible sponsors for the Planning for Recreation Access grant include:
- Cities, counties, towns
- Federally recognized Native American tribes
- Nonprofit organizations that meet the following criteria:
- Registered with Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 charitable organization
- Registered as a nonprofit corporation at the state level
- Special purpose districts such as port, parks, conservation, or school districts
For more information, visit Planning for Recreation Access Program.