The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State and Local Assistance program provides grants to states, and through states to local units of government and federally-recognized Indian tribes, for projects that will provide outdoor recreation opportunities to the public through the acquisition of lands and waters for parks and other outdoor recreation areas, as well as through the development of new, or the renovation of existing, outdoor recreation facilities.
Donor Name: Iowa Department of Natural Resources
State: Iowa
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $10,000,000
Details:
Purpose
As designed, the purpose of the ORLP Program is to provide new or significantly improved recreation opportunities in economically-disadvantaged communities, consistent with the purposes and requirements of the LWCF Act and LWCF Manual, and that:
- meet recreation goals as identified in, and align with, at least one priority of, the State’s Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan
- are located within or abutting an incorporated city (or town) having a population of 30,000 or more, and
- serve the specific needs of a community(ies) that is (are) severely lacking in walkable, publicly accessible, outdoor recreation (“park deserts”), and that has a poverty rate of at least 20% or that is at least 10% higher than that of the project city, county, and state rates).
For the purposes of this competition, for a community to be considered a “park desert,” there must be:
- no existing parks within a .5-mile radius of the community(ies) to be served by the park (not the radius of the proposed park); or
- one or two small parks within a .5-mile radius of the community(ies) that is/are not large enough to support the size of the population of the service area, or otherwise unable to provide a variety of recreational opportunities; or
- one or two existing parks (potentially of adequate size), including the park that is being addressed in this project, that is/are so obsolete or underdeveloped that a major redevelopment or rehabilitation is necessary to be able to significantly increase the number of people or user groups who could be served in a way that would be equivalent to a new park; or
- existing parks that are inaccessible to the target community due to physical barriers such as transportation infrastructure, rivers, etc.
ORLP Program Competition Priorities
The competition will prioritize the selection of projects that:
- provide new recreational opportunities, particularly those that will increase access to nature’s benefits, such as green spaces, shady areas (via tree cover), and natural landscapes that help cool the air and reduce urban heat island effects, reduce pollution, and have positive effects on mental and physical health;
- empowered and engaged members of the target community in the project development and design of the plans for the park;
- create or expand public-private partnerships that leverage matching share resources (e.g., money or donations of land, supplies, or services, etc.);
- benefit from a high degree of coordination among the public, multiple levels of government, and the private sector; and
- advance goals of, or meet, priority recreation needs identified in numerous local, regional, state plans and/or initiatives.
Funding Information
- Maximum Award: $10,000,000
- Minimum Award: $300,000
- Anticipated Award Date: September 01, 2023, and January 1, 2024
Eligibility Criteria
- State governments
- Applications submitted directly by entities other than the State Lead Agency for LWCF, will be eliminated without consideration. Individuals, nonprofit organizations, and other private entities are not eligible as applicants or subrecipients.
- Eligible sub-recipients (aka project sponsors) include state agencies, local units of government (state political subdivisions such as cities, towns, counties, and special purpose districts such as park districts), and federally-recognized Indian Tribes.
- For a project to be eligible the sub-recipient must be an incorporated city (or town) of at least 30,000 people. If the subrecipient is a county or special purpose district, the project must be serving a city or town of 30,000 or more people.
- The park or recreation area must be within, or abutting, the city or town.
For more information, visit IDNR.
