Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has announced the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Non-Motorized Trails 2024 Grant Rounds are now open.
Pre-applications for this grant cycle to address potential wildlife impacts are due by Tuesday, September 5. CPW staff will host webinars, detailed below, for each program to cover application requirements and commonly asked questions for both programs.
Land and Water Conservation Fund Grants
The LWCF is designed to strengthen the health and vitality of local communities through generous funding for outdoor recreation land acquisition and development projects. LWCF grants are available to local, state, county, or tribal government agencies with fee-simple ownership of the land where the project is situated. Grants ranging from $100,000 to $1,250,000 are available but must be matched 1:1.
Non-Motorized Trail Grants
Eligible projects fall under one of the following non-motorized trails grant categories: Construction: Maximum Award of $250,000 – New trail or trailhead construction, including the installation or creation of new facilities where none currently exist.
Maintenance: Maximum Award of $250,000 – Maintenance, reroute, or reconstruction of existing trails or trailheads.
Planning: Maximum Award of $45,000 – Trail layout, design, engineering, feasibility studies, inventory, use studies, and analysis of existing and proposed trails.
Support: Maximum Award of $45,000 – Building and enhancement of volunteer organizations, increasing volunteer capacity, and implementing trail training and education.
Trail Stewardship Crews: Maximum Awards of $75,000 to $150,000 depending on crew size – Supporting stewardship crews to complete work on existing trail systems.
There is no minimum request for any category.
Pre-application Submission
To help address potential wildlife impacts in their applications, all potential LWCF and Non-Motorized Trails applicants must submit a project scope that includes a high-level overview of the project and a site map that outlines where work will be performed by Tuesday, September 5.
LWCF applicants are also required to submit a United States Fish and Wildlife Service Information Planning and Consultation (IPaC) Report. This information will be shared with the appropriate CPW Area Wildlife Manager for a pre-application review to discuss potential concerns with the applicant. Applicants must email the basic project scope and site map to trails@state.co.us by September 5 to be eligible for full application submission in October. Guidance on addressing wildlife impacts for trail projects can be found here.
Learn more and apply
Application documents and program guidelines are available on the LWCF and Non-Motorized Trails webpages.
To help navigate the application process, CPW staff will host webinars for each program to cover application requirements and commonly asked questions for both programs. Register at the links below:
LWCF Grant Cycle Overview – 2:00 p.m.
Non-Motorized Trails Grant Cycle Overview – 2:30 p.m.
LWCF Grant Cycle Overview – 10:00 a.m.
Non-Motorized Trails Grant Cycle Overview – 10:30 a.m.
Key dates
Tuesday, September 5: Pre-application submission due by email to trails@state.co.us
Tuesday, October 3: Full applications due by email to trails@state.co.us
Featured image: Volunteers for the National Trails Day restoration event work on Rainbow Trails. Photo courtesy of Salida Mountain Trails.
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