Central ND News

The National Park Service (NPS) has announced an award of $4,490,000 through the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program (ORLP) to support redevelopment projects at parks in North Dakota. The funds will be allocated as follows:

- $3,490,000 for the Grand Forks Downtown Gateway and Greenway, a recreational area covering 2,200 acres.

- $1,000,000 to support the Turtle Mountain Family Recreation Areas.

The ORLP program is managed by the NPS and funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). It provides grants for community-sponsored park projects in areas with populations greater than 30,000 residents. Since its inception in 1965, the NPS has provided over 40,000 LWCF grants. These grants are primarily funded by federal offshore oil and gas lease revenue and allow states to allocate funds to local public park projects and state conservation efforts.

In 2019, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer helped pass the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. This legislation reauthorized and reformed the LWCF program to ensure that states receive at least 40 percent of its funding. Grants distributed through this program are determined locally and reviewed at the state level through a process managed by state partners of the NPS.