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Grants

The Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation provides grants through the following programs:

  • VOREC Community Grant Program: The program’s purpose is to make grants from $10,000 up to $100,000 available to help one or more Vermont communities fully leverage their local outdoor recreation assets to achieve a status of being a truly “outdoor recreation friendly community” as envisioned by the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC) steering committee.  
  • Recreational Trails Program: The Recreational Trails Program (RTP)  is an assistance program of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration providing funds to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities.  Both motorized and non-motorized trail projects may qualify for assistance. RTP is administered at the state level through the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, (FPR) in cooperation with the Vermont Agency of Transportation.  
  • Land and Water Conservation Fund Program: The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was established to create parks and open spaces, protect wilderness and forests, and provide outdoor recreation opportunities. Funds are derived from federal recreation fees, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) revenues from leasing oil and gas sites in coastal waters, federal surplus real property sales, and a portion of federal motorboat fuel taxes. Funds are apportioned to federal agencies, and to the 50 states and 6 territories through the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS). In Vermont, LWCF is administered by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. LWCF grants provide up to 50% matching assistance to the state and local governments.  
  • Forest Legacy Program: The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) is a federal grant program to protect forestlands from conversion to non-forest uses.  The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation working in conjunction with the USDA Forest Service is the State Lead Agency for Vermont's Forest Legacy Program.  

  • Communities Caring for Canopy: Vermont’s Urban & Community Forestry Program offers grants to help communities care for tree canopy by taking the necessary actions to develop and sustain a community-wide tree program. These grants allow for multiple program components - tree planting, tree inventory, tree maintenance, plan development, public outreach, and program development - to be merged into one grant application for ease and flexibility.

  • Working Lands Initiative: The Working Lands Enterprise Fund demonstrates the state’s investment in the working lands enterprise economy. The fund is directed by the Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) and is administered by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation and the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The three funding categories (working lands enterprise investments, service provider grants, and capital and infrastructure investments) are identified by the Vermont legislature in Act 142 and defined by the WLEB.  The amount of funds in each category will be determined by the WLEB based on the response and need from applicants.