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Sustainable Recreation, Tourism, and Equitable Outdoor Access Directed Grant Program (2025-2027)

Grantor:
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Portal ID:
129150
Status:
Active
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

This Grant Program aims to support innovative efforts to enhance, promote, and develop sustainable recreation and tourism opportunities and increase access for all to public lands in the Sierra-Cascade region. Program goals include improving access to nature and outdoor recreation opportunities, reducing impacts of overuse on natural and cultural resources, and supporting the development of sustainable recreation economies.

Description:

Proposition 68 recognizes the critical importance of recreation and tourism to California’s economy and ecology and specifically directs funds to be used to support and expand recreation economies, opportunities, and access to outdoor recreation. 

Projects must fall within one of the following three focus areas to be considered for funding: 1. Build Climate Resilience: Support the planning, development, and maintenance of recreation and outdoor infrastructure that anticipates or adapts to increased use and pressure from climate change and visitors escaping extreme weather. Projects must clearly have multiple benefits, such as tourism as well as education, recreation infrastructure with water-quality benefits, or recreation with habitat protection. 2. Improve/Increase Access for All: Improve and/or increase access to nature, including for communities that have not traditionally had equitable access through grants which result in either the implementation or identification, prioritization, and preparation for capital improvement projects. Projects must clearly have multiple benefits, such as tourism as well as education, recreation infrastructure with water-quality benefits, or recreation with habitat protection. 3. Landscape-scale Assessments: Support landscape-scale partnerships to develop an assessment of landscape conditions and risks to recreational infrastructure and other assets. Projects must clearly have multiple benefits, such as tourism as well as education, recreation infrastructure with water-quality benefits, or recreation with habitat protection.

Eligibility: Projects must meet all the following criteria: Be located within the Sierra-Cascade Region; be consistent with the Program Objectives described in the Grant Program Guidelines and the SNC mission and program areas as defined in the SNC Strategic Plan and the Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program; meet all requirements of Proposition 68 and result in a clear, demonstrable, and enduring public benefit. The SNC may give favorable consideration to projects that: Employ a collaborative approach in project development or implementation; result in a beneficial impact across a defined geographic region; directly benefit severely disadvantaged or disadvantaged communities; consider climate impacts and risks and identify specific adaptation strategies or actions to remedy climate-related vulnerability and leverage private, federal, or local resources.

To initiate consideration of a project, a project organizer should review the Grant Guidelines and Guidelines Companion Document and contact the appropriate SNC Area Representative. If it is determined that SNC will consider partnering on the project, the Area Representative will share the SNC Proposal Form with the organizer and assist in developing the project and completing the Proposal Form. Proposals will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis as long as funding is available. Recommendations may be made to the SNC Governing Board on a quarterly basis beginning in June 2026. First review of project proposals will begin December 2025. Please review the full Grant Program Guidelines and Guidelines Companion Document.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Nonprofit
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

Grant funds may be authorized for: Public agencies (any city, county, special district, joint powers authority, state agency, or federal agency); Qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations; and eligible tribal entities recognized by the United States and identified within the most current Federal Register, and those listed on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission as a California Native American Tribe. 

Eligible Geographies:

A project must be located within SNC’s service area, the Sierra-Cascade Region defined as defined in SNC’s governing legislation. The Region covers nearly 27 million acres and includes all or part of 24 counties in California.

Matching Funding Requirement:

While match funding is not required, it is considered in the project evaluation process. 

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
June 2026
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
Complete by 01/01/30

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$4,100,000
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
No
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

The primary funding source for the Program is Proposition 68, the California Drought, Water, Park, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018. SNC was allocated $30 million of these bond funds and has four million one hundred thousand  ($4,100,000) dollars available for this grant cycle. If additional funding sources become available, SNC may direct those funding sources to the support of this grant program. 

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Advances & Reimbursement(s)

Funding Method Notes:

Grant funds are disbursed for eligible costs on a reimbursement basis or, in certain cases, through advances. There is a 10 percent retention of expenditure reimbursements. The total retention will be held until all project reports and deliverables have been submitted and approved. Advances up to 25 percent of the awarded Grant Funds may be considered; larger requests may be considered with adequate justification. 

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
Shannon Ciotti, 1-530-906-7345, shannon.ciotti@sierranevada.ca.gov

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