Texas Parks and Wildlife Grant Programs

Local governments are eligible to apply for competitive grant funds from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Private individuals and non-profit organizations are not eligible for these funds. Funding programs include:

Texas Recreation and Parks Account Program (TRPA): A 50% matching grant program to finance acquisition, development and/or redevelopment of outdoor recreation facilities. Applicants can request up to $500,000 in TRPA funds. (Deadlines July 31 each year.)

Indoor Recreation Program: A 50% matching program to finance development and/or redevelopment of facilities designed for indoor recreational activities. Applicants can request up to $750,000 in TRPA funds. (Deadline July 31 each year.)

Small Grants Program: A 50% matching program to finance development and/or improvement of new or existing outdoor recreational facilities in cities and counties with populations of less than 20,000. (Communities of 2,000 or less population receive 2 points automatically.) These funds can be used to enhance an existing park with new activities or replace deteriorated facilities, and/or can be used to develop or enhance smaller "play lots" or neighborhood parks. Applicants can request up to $50,000 in funds. (Deadline Jan 31st each year.)

Texas Recreational Trails Fund (Hike & Bike Trails): A 80-20 matching program to finance development or redevelopment of trails used for recreational purposes. The State provides 80% of the project funds and the locality provides 20%. Applicants can request up to $100,000, however, there are provisions to increase that cap for projects designed for motorized users only. The minimum request is $2,400. (Deadline June 1 each year.)