The Montana Trail Stewardship Grant Program (MTSGP) is a state program that provides funding for the development, renovation, and maintenance of motorized and non-motorized recreational trails and trailside facilities throughout Montana and in its communities.
Donor Name: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
State: Montana
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 02/15/2022
Size of the Grant: $75,000
Details:
The MTSGP is administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Available Funding
The amount of available funding is expected to be approximately $1.0 million. Applicants may request up to $75,000 in grant funds.
Eligible Applicants
Grant applicants may include federal, tribal, state, county, or municipal agencies (including school districts), and nonprofit recreational associations and clubs. An organization can submit only one grant application per grant cycle.
Eligible funding areas include:
- New trail and shared-use path construction;
- Rehabilitation and maintenance of existing trails and shared-use paths, including grooming of trails for motorized and nonmotorized winter recreation; and
- Construction and maintenance of trailside and trailhead facilities, including but not limited to bridges, fencing, parking, bathrooms, latrines, picnic shelters, interpretation, trail signs, and trailside weed management.
Non-eligible funding areas include:
- Development of trail safety and education programs
- Design and engineering
- Equipment purchases
- Land acquisitions
Eligible Project Types
- Development of urban trail linkages near homes and workplaces
- Providing features to assist individuals with disabilities
- Construction of new trails and shared-use paths
- Rehabilitation and maintenance of existing trails and shared-use paths, including grooming of trails for motorized and nonmotorized winter recreation
- Construction and maintenance of trailside and trailhead facilities, including but not limited to bridges, fencing, parking, bathrooms, latrines, picnic shelters, interpretation, trail signs, and trailside weed management
- Restoration of areas damaged by trail use
- Trail projects on routes legally designated or otherwise appropriately approved by the land managing agency
- Trail projects on trails that are not currently under litigation in a court of law
Ineligible Project Types
Purchase of equipment (an article of nonexpendable, tangible property having a useful life of more than five years and with an acquisition cost that exceeds $1,000)
- Development of trail information and ethics education programs/materials
- Acquisition of easements and property for trails
- Facilities (shelters, toilets, picnic tables, benches, etc.) located in park or other settings which are not clearly and solely for the benefit of trail users (versus an enhancement for park users)
- Feasibility studies and planning
- Law enforcement activities
- Maintenance or storage of equipment, including winter grooming equipment Purchase of materials for equipment
- Weed management outside of an established trail corridor
- Projects managed as profit-making entities
- Trail projects on routes not legally designated by the appropriate land managing agency
- Projects that displace fish and wildlife species, reduce habitat effectiveness, cause irreparable damage to vegetation, soils, water, and wild public lands, and/or substantially increase conflicts
- Trails, or any project pertaining to that trail, currently under litigation in a court of law
- Projects that have the potential to substantially alter legal use patterns or make the trail substantially less desirable for the spectrum of current users
- Projects unrelated to a trail or a shared-use path
- Work involving a water trail that has not been designated
For more information, visit Montana Trail Stewardship Grant Program.
