Date and time: Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov
WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced the single largest grant investment from the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program (ORLP). Through ORLP, the National Park Service (NPS) will invest $254.68 million in 54 projects in 24 states to redevelop and create new regional parks.
The ORLP program is President Biden’s voluntary, locally-led conservation and restoration initiative aimed at addressing the nature and climate crisis, improving equitable access to the outdoors, and strengthening the economy. It promotes the America the Beautiful Initiative. Providing safe outdoor space to communities lacking parks is one of six areas of focus. The program also helps advance the administration’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to channel 40 percent of federal funding benefits to disadvantaged communities.
“Everyone has the right to experience the resilience of nature, but increasing access to public outdoor spaces does not always receive the investment or momentum needed to make an impact. Supporting communities that benefit from the Recreation Legacy Partnership Program is a top priority for my administration and an important step in bringing more green space to urban and disadvantaged communities. ” Secretary Deb Haaland said. “Today, this program makes history with the largest investment since its inception.”
“Enthusiasm for this program has been incredible, with the highest number of applications we’ve ever seen,” said Shannon Estenoz, assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “After traveling across the country to raise awareness of the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Program, we are thrilled to see so many cities receiving grants for the first time.”
In August, Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary Estenoz toured ongoing ORLP projects in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. They visited Yeargan Park and Smoky Hollow Park. Investments from the program will build new park infrastructure, improve trails, and expand playgrounds and picnic areas to foster community connections and access to the outdoors.
Today’s announcement comes after Assistant Secretary Estenoz toured the country to hear directly from local residents about the need to connect outdoor access and encourage state participation in the ORLP program. Ta. This latest round of funding builds on the largest number of applications received by NPS in the program’s history.
“It’s great to see such an increase in community investment in the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “Investing in these 54 locally-led projects is a prime example of the important work the National Park Service is doing to improve access to the outdoors in local communities and beyond the boundaries of our national parks.”
Established in 2014, the ORLP program is a nationally competitive dollar-for-dollar matching grant program that supports disadvantaged urban communities without access to nearby outdoor recreation. The program provides grants to community-sponsored park projects in areas with populations greater than 30,000. Administered by NPS and funded through LWCF, this program provides matching grants of up to 50% of total project costs.
See the list of projects below.
State Park Name City/County Grant Amount AL Downtown Gadsden Greenway City of Gadsden $2,996,000.00 CA La Palma Park City of Anaheim $6,000,000.00 CA Martin Luther King Jr. Park City of Bakersfield $11,909,000.00 CA Bright Park West Sacramento City $15,000,000.00 CA – Keys Park City Sanno $4,500,000.00 CA Central Parks City of Glendale $5,950,000.00 CA Roadside Park City of Baldwin Park $2,109,000.00 CA Jordan Downs Central Park Los Angeles County $10,999,000.00 CA Panorama Park City of Reading $4,000,000.00 CA Van Buskirk Revitalization Park City of Stockton $7,017,000.00 CA Puente Hills Landfill Lichen -gun Los Angeles $ 15,000,000.00 CA Uzura Valley Nature Park Menifie City $ 750,000.00 CA Bell Flower Park City $ 1,000,000.00 , 000.00 CO La Alma Lincoln Park Demark Park and Recreation $8,400,000.00 CO Gold Strike Colorado Parks and Wildlife $7,329,000.00 CT Cummings Park/West Beach City of Stamford $5,000,000.00 CT Rockwell Park City of Bristol $1,930,000.00 DC 11th Street Bridge Park City of Washington DC $15,000,000.00 FL Carter Park City of Fort Lauderdale $2,181 ,000.0 0 Florida Sunset Park City of Hollywood $7,581,000.00 Florida Marva Bannerman Park Miami-Dade County $2,518,000.00 City Park, Florida Oakland City Park $2,500,000.00 Burdett Park Natural Area, Georgia City of South Fulton $1,081,000.00 IA Comiskey Park City of Dubuque $1,974,000.00 River, Kentucky Front Park, Burren – River City Bowling Green $3,640,000.00 MD Baltimore Greenway Trail Network Mayor and Baltimore City Council $1,375,000.00 MD Hill Street Park City of Frederick $1,000,000.00 MI Flint Riverbank Park Genesee County $5,000,000.00 MN Martin Luther King JR (MLK) Park $1,522,00 0.00 MO Par Hill Parks City of Joplin $485,000.00 NC View Mountain Acquisition Buncombe County $4,475,000.00 ND Downtown Gateway and Greenway City of Grand Forks $3,490,000.00 ND Turtle Mountain Family Recreation Area Turtle Mountain $1,000,000.00 City of Albuquerque NM Mesa Verde Park $1,350,000.00 New York Payne Park City of North Tonawanda $4,084,000.00 OH Levelend HV Savage Park City of Toledo $1,151,000.00 Irishtown, OH Bend Cleveland Metroparks $10,813,000.00 OH Cuyahoga Riverfront Properties Cleveland Metroparks $2,950,000.00 OH Cain Park City of Cleveland Heights $390,000.00 OK Dream Keepers Park City of Tulsa $3,612,000.00 PA Hillside Pool City of Reading $672,000.00 PA Weston Field City of Scranton $672,000.00 SC Regional Park City of Rock Hill $1 5,000,000.00 TN Gooch Park Memphis Parks $3,339,000.00 TX Community Park City of Dallas $8,663,000.00 TX Woodlawn Lake Park City of San Antonio $3,250,000.00 TX Barnett Bayland Park City of Houston $11,353,000 .00 TX Teague Park City of Longview $1,318,000.00 TX John Trevino Jr. Metropolitan Park City Austin $4,000,000.00 VA Patton Park City of Petersburg $3,407,000.00 WA Uplands Park City of Kent $3,150,000.00 Total $254,685,000.00
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