Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Grants Program

Bikers prepare to cross the Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri. Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant investments went towards accessible restrooms, drinking fountains, a picnic pavilion, a paved parking lot, fencing, lighting, and a gated entrance at this community park.

Great Rivers Greenway

The Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program provides matching grants to cities for park projects in underserved communities. These investments enable urban communities to create new outdoor recreation spaces, reinvigorate existing parks, and form connections between people and the outdoors.

From picnic tables to playgrounds, ORLP funding invests in outdoor recreation and the facilities needed to enjoy and use community parks. Accessible playgrounds, biking trails, and campgrounds have all been made possible through ORLP grants aimed at improving local access to outdoor recreation. Over $100 million in Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant funding has been invested nationwide.

Managed by the National Park Service and funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the nationally competitive ORLP program provides matching grants (up to 50% of total project costs) to assist communities with little to no access to outdoor recreation opportunities in urban areas. Funds can be used for the acquisition and/or development of, or to substantially renovate public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces.

Kids rock climb on large boulders at Montbello Open Space Park in Denver, Colorado, which opened in 2021 with support from an Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grant.

Mundus Bishop / Scott Dressel-Martin

To meet ORLP objectives and goals, projects must:

• Serve communities with a population of 30,000 or more as per the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, an incorporated city or town, or census designated place with a population of 30,000+.
• Serve a community that is determined to be underserved and under resourced based on the project site being located in or directly accessible to communities that are underserved in terms of access to parks and recreation resources, and where there are significant populations of people or are economically disadvantaged.

As ORLP is a nationally competitive grant program funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and project sites assisted with these funds must be maintained and accessible exclusively for public outdoor recreation use in perpetuity. This applies to the assisted park or site in its entirety, not just the area assisted by the grant funds.

Are you interested in seeking funding under the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership grants program?

Start with contacting your state lead agency to get details about the process for selecting and nominating projects to the National Park Service’s ORLP grant. To reach out to the National Park Service for additional information, email us at [e-mail]. For upcoming and open applications, find more info by searching on Grants.gov using keywords “Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership” and CFDA number “15.916” to view current competitive round opportunities.