Park and Trail Partnership Grants

Park and Trail Partnership Grants—administered by Parks & Trails New York in partnership with the NY Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and funded through the Environmental Protection Fund—support a wide array of partner efforts, from raising private funds for capital projects and performing maintenance and beautification tasks, to providing innovative educational programming and hosting special events.

Previous Grant Awards 

Grant Categories

There are four types of competitive grants available to eligible grassroots, non-profit organizations through the Park and Trail Partnership Grant Program:

Stewardship and Public Access Grants may be used to assist Friends organizations with the stewardship, interpretation, promotion, education, and public access of a New York State park or historic site, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, which significantly enhances the organization’s visibility and capacity.

Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants strengthen the capacity and expertise of organizations that support New York State parks, trails, historic sites, and public lands, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, in order to aid them in fulfilling their mission and to improve their reach, effectiveness, and impact.

Professional Development Grants support the hiring of permanent staff in order to advance Friends organizations to a higher and sustainable level of professionalism, fiscal and administrative stability, and community outreach that in the future they will be able to sustain on their own.

Step-up Grants assist Friends organizations with the administrative and legal fees needed to secure 501(c)(3) status, along with the costs associated with completing a consultant-facilitated organizational assessment and resulting plan(s).

During the review period, our review team gives extra consideration to applications that can “move the needle forward” on the following 3 areas that are a priority for PTNY, and our partners: accessibility; diversity, equity and inclusion; and partnerships.

Your group may still put forward an application that does not focus on these programmatic targets. It’s simply our way of leveraging the additional EPF funds for this program into areas we know need to be addressed in a meaningful way by grassroots groups affiliated with OPRHP and DEC.

Learn More About the Grant Program

How to Apply

View our Resources 

Questions?

If you have any questions about the Park and Trail Partnership Grants or want to crowdsource ideas from other applicants, check out the Friends Discussion forums on the grants.

Friends Forums