Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program — The Land and Water Conservation Fund

Established by Congress in 2014 and administered through the National Park Service, the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program is funded through the LWCF State and Local Assistance Program. ORLP is a nationally competitive grant program that delivers funding to urban areas – jurisdictions of at least 30,000 people – with priority given to projects located in economically disadvantaged areas and lacking in outdoor recreation opportunities. These awards help underserved communities address outdoor recreation deficits by supporting projects in cities and densely populated urbanized areas that create new outdoor recreation spaces, reinvigorate existing parks, and form connections between people and the outdoors. Over $118 million in ORLP grants have been awarded to improve close-to-home access to the outdoors.

Nonprofit partners can collaborate with states and municipalities to identify community needs, develop a strong grant application, and secure matching funds from a variety of public and private sources.

Eligibility

Only state lead agencies are eligible to submit applications for ORLP grants, although they may do so on behalf of themselves or another entity via a sub-grant.
- Eligible sub-recipients include other state agencies, local units of government (cities, counties, and park districts), and federally-recognized Tribes.

Eligible sub-recipients (aka project sponsors) include state agencies, local units of government (state political subdivisions such as cities, towns, counties, and special purpose districts such as park districts), and federally-recognized Indian Tribes.

To meet ORLP objectives and goals, projects must be:
- located within an incorporated city (or town) having a population of 30,000 or more in the 2020 Census, and
- located within a community (Census tract) that is determined to be disadvantaged per the Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool at https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/ (includes tract of project site and community(ies) served).