Wyoming’s Office of Outdoor Recreation is pleased to announce the first recipients of the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Grant Program, resulting in over $2.1 million in allocated funding.
Four Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Grant (WORG) applications were approved, including $1,000,000 for Albany County’s Pilot Hill Trailhead, $700,000 for the City of Laramie’s Laramie Bike Park, $330,513 for the Town of Shoshoni’s Shoshoni Heritage Rail-Trail Trailhead, and $72,010 for the Wind River Reservation’s St. Lawrence Trail Rehabilitation.
Made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds appropriated by the Wyoming Legislature and approved by Governor Mark Gordon, the WORG Program was established to award funding to public outdoor recreation projects throughout the state.
In addition, Wyoming’s Office of Outdoor Recreation is excited to announce the second round of the WORG Program, with applications opening November 1st, 2023. The application deadline is January 12th, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.
The office received 117 pre-applications from local, county, state, and tribal governments as well as non-profit organizations across the state during its first round of applications for a total of $71,239,338 in requested funding, exceeding available funds by over $51 million dollars.
“Qualifying projects for these federal funds have been a significant challenge as the rules became increasingly restrictive, but we want to thank our partners who worked closely with us to get these applications over the finish line,” states Patrick Harrington, Manager of Wyoming’s Office of Outdoor Recreation. “The second round of funding will be more restrictive in some cases, and less restrictive in others. The restrictions are based on the federal guidelines associated with the American Rescue Plan, but the good news is that maintenance projects will now be eligible to receive funding. We stand ready to help applicants prepare their proposals and work through the process together with them. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.”
For more information about awarded projects, the program and/or to apply for the 2023-2024 Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Grant Program, please visit wyorec.info/WORGprogram.