Land & Water Conservation Fund Grants

Overview

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Program is a federal program authorized by Congress for the purpose of acquiring federal lands and assisting states and local governments with funds to acquire lands and develop and renovate outdoor recreation facilities. LWCF funds are appropriated by Congress to the U. S. Department of the Interior, National Parks Service (NPS), and NPS allocates the funds through state agencies as a grant program to state and local governments. Grantees must match the grant award dollar for dollar.

The LWCF Program, first authorized in 1965, has resulted in Georgia receiving over $120 million in matching grant funds. The program was reauthorized and received permanent funding in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 respectively. With the permanent funding, it is anticipated that Georgia will receive $5-7 million annually.

In order to efficiently administer the grant funds, LWCF moved to a bi-annual grant cycle. With two years of allocations to award, an estimate of $12 million will be available to local governments during the 2024-2025 grant cycle.

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Program Reminders

LWCF requires a dollar-for-dollar match for all grant request.

The minimum grant request is $25,000 ($50,000 total project).

The maximum grant request is $500,000 ($1 million total project).

Only one application can be submitted for an LWCF project per jurisdiction.

For those who have applied for LWCF grants in the past, be mindful that scoring criteria has changed.

Applicants may submit pre-applications for both LWCF Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program, but applications must be for separate projects.

Educational Workshops

DNR Grants Staff will conduct one in-person, and one webinar-based educational workshop about Land and Water Conservation Fund, in tandem with Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP) grant program The two sessions will cover the same material. These workshops will be at no cost to the public, but we ask that you register at the following links:

In-Person - Thursday, June 6, 2024, 9:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m.

Indian Springs State Park, Idlewilde Center - 678 Lake Clark Rd., Flovilla, GA 30216

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScSU4PTrtmDvN8YhCYbSBFTz88TyIJHOoCCUtgJUhgAEKBg9g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Webinar- Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 9:00 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Julianne Carroll julianne.carroll@dnr.ga.gov or 404-463-8393.

Be mindful that applications are not being accepted at this time. Material on this website is for informational purposes only. Documents and requirements could change once the cycle opens. However, feel free to review and become familiar with the content for planning purposes. You are also encouraged to view educational videos that can be found at the bottom of the website.