Park and Trail Partnership Grants—administered by Parks & Trails New York in partnership with the NY Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and funded through the Environmental Protection Fund—support a wide array of partner efforts, from raising private funds for capital projects and performing maintenance and beautification tasks, to providing innovative educational programming and hosting special events.
Donor Name: Parks & Trails New York
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant | Matching Grants
Deadline: 08/29/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
This $2.5 million program is open to organizations whose purpose is the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, environmental education, maintenance, and/or promotion of New York State parks, trails, historic sites, or facility/facilities under the jurisdiction of OPRHP or public land under the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
The Park and Trail Partnership Grant program is a capacity-building matching grants program funded through the NYS Environmental Protection Fund. The program is designed to:
- Enhance the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, maintenance and promotion of New York State parks, trails, state historic sites and public lands.
- Increase the sustainability, effectiveness, productivity, and volunteer and fundraising capabilities of not-for-profit organizations that promote, maintain, and support New York State parks, trails, state historic sites and public lands.
- Promote the tourism and economic development benefits of outdoor recreation through the growth and expansion of a connected statewide network of parks, trails, greenways and public lands.
Grant Categories
There are four types of competitive grants available to eligible grassroots, non-profit organizations through the Park and Trail Partnership Grant Program.
- Stewardship and Public Access Grants
- Stewardship and Public Access Grants may be used to assist Friends organizations with the stewardship, interpretation, promotion, education, and public access of a New York State Park or Historic Site, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, which significantly enhances the organization’s visibility and capacity.
- Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants
- Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants strengthen the capacity and expertise of organizations that support New York State parks, trails, historic sites, and public lands, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, in order to aid them in fulfilling their mission and to improve their reach, effectiveness, and impact.
- Professional Development Grants
- The purpose of Professional Development Grants is to support the hiring of permanent staff in order to advance an organization to a higher and more sustainable level of professionalism and fiscal and administrative stability so that it will better be able to fulfill its mission.
- Step-up Grants
- Step-up Grants assist Friends organizations with the administrative and legal fees needed to secure 501(c)(3) status, along with the costs associated with completing a consultant-facilitated organizational assessment and resulting plan(s).
Funding Information
- Stewardship and Public Access Grants: $300,000
- Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants: $200,000
- Professional Development Grants: $150,000Step-up Grants: $20,000. encompassing a period of two years
Grant Period
- Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants: 1 year
- Professional Development Grants: 2 years
- Step-up Grants: 1 year.
Eligibility Criteria
The Park and Trail Partnership Grants program is open to organizations whose purpose is the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, environmental education, maintenance, and/or promotion of New York State parks, trails, historic sites, or facility/facilities under the jurisdiction of OPRHP or public land under the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). In addition:
- An applicant must be registered as a charity with the New York State Attorney General’s office and submit its CHAR500/410 Annual Financial Report.
- An applicant must be classified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization or have a Memorandum of Understanding with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt fiscal agent.
- An applicant must, at the time of application, have and be in good standing under a current agreement with OPRHP or DEC for ongoing volunteer services, fundraising, programming or operational support applicable to the grant request.
- For an Applicant supporting OPRHP sites(s), the organization’s articles of incorporation shall expressly state the organization’s purpose is the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, environmental education, maintenance, and/or promotion of one or more parks, trail, historic site, or facility under the jurisdiction of OPRHP. In addition, the Applicant’s agreement referenced in (3) above shall implement this purpose. (b) Applicants maintaining a current formal agreement with DEC must either have included in its mission the support of a specific DEC site or facility, or its mission must state the activities it conducts at one or multiple DEC location(s) as stated in its current formal agreement.
For more information, visit Parks & Trails New York.
