Rivers & Trails is committed to helping build and support partnerships that conserve natural and cultural resources, provide recreational opportunities, and contribute to economic and social well-being. Local decision-making means that neighbors help neighbors save places they care about and build nature-based recreation opportunities for the future.

Rivers & Trails helps communities set project priorities and goals, leverage additional resources, and conduct public outreach. National Park Service involvement can lend recognition and significance to river, trail, and conservation project to raise project visibility, attract more partners, and provide more funding opportunities.

Non-profit organizations, community groups, tribes or tribal governments, and local and state government agencies are eligible to receive technical assistance from the Rivers & Trails program. A national network of ninety staff members keep the program humming around the country. Here in the Seattle Support Office of the Pacific West Region, six staff members serve the three states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Rivers & Trails uses a competitive application process to award technical assistance on a yearly basis. Projects typically run for one year, with an opportunity for continued assistance for a second year. Short-term help is also available. Rivers & Trails tailors planning assistance to meet the specific needs of each applicant. We can help bring partners together, establish organizational guidelines, generate project vision and goals, assess resources, develop outreach campaigns, broaden project support, investigate funding sources, design public workshops, guide concept plan development, and more.

To learn more about what we do, click here.