Montana Sets Early Deadline For Outdoor Recreation Grant Applications

Friday, October 17, 2003
Headlines

This article was Archived on Monday, November 17, 2003

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials are urging counties, cities and other organizations planning to apply for a Land & Water Conservation Fund grant to get started early.   The deadline for the popular federal funding program for outdoor recreation projects is Feb. 20, 2004. In previous years grant applications were due in July.

“The new deadline allows the National Park Service, which has final approval on the grants, to report to Congress in a more timely way and it gives Congress an idea early in the budget cycle of what the future level of need is,” said Walt Timmerman, Chief of the Recreation Bureau for FWP’s Montana State Parks Division, which administers the program.

  Since 1965, Montana has received more than $32 million for outdoor recreational projects. The federal LWCF program, established in 1965, encourages a partnership between national, state and local governments in planning and funding outdoor recreation.  

Cities, counties, school districts, conservation districts, Indian tribes, and other interested parties will soon receive a mailing announcing the deadline, Timmerman said.  

Typical facilities eligible for funding include ball fields, campgrounds, golf courses, ice-skating ponds, picnic facilities, tennis courts, playground equipment, and hiking trails.

The maximum grant per project is $75,000 and the grant may provide up to 50 percent of a local project’s total costs.  

Other requirements of the LWCF Program are:

Project sponsors must be a city, county, school district or similar official state entity or sovereign Indian Nation within Montana.

The sponsor must own the project site, or have control of the property under a long-term lease from the federal government.

The sponsor must have adequate resources to operate and maintain the area after the project is complete.   The LWCF program provides no funds for routine operation and maintenance.

The area within the project boundary must be maintained for public outdoor recreation in perpetuity.

Applicants must include the results of a recent outdoor recreation survey that demonstrates support from local citizens.

Detailed information is available on the FWP web site at www.fwp.state.mt.us. Click on the Parks and Recreation page and then on Grants on the left side of your screen, or call 406-444-3750.