ORR Rural Outdoor Recreation and Health Grant Program — Mountain West

orr@recreationroundtable.org

The Rural Outdoor Recreation and Health Grant Program is designed to help communities in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming identify, improve, and activate outdoor spaces and programs that support healthier, more connected rural lives. The program recognizes that access to safe, welcoming, and well-maintained outdoor places can play a meaningful role in preventive health, mental well-being, social connection, youth development, active aging, and overall quality of life.

Grounded in community-defined priorities, grants will support local projects that connect outdoor recreation with health outcomes. The program will prioritize projects that are locally led, responsive to rural needs, and built through partnerships among local governments, public health departments, hospitals and clinics, parks departments, schools, senior centers, veterans organizations, community nonprofits, outdoor businesses, and state offices of outdoor recreation.

Priorities include programs that:

• Improve safe, inclusive, and convenient access to the outdoors
• Advance community health, preventive care, mental well-being, physical activity, or social connection
• Reflect community-driven priorities and include meaningful rural resident engagement
• Build or strengthen partnerships between outdoor recreation, healthcare, public health, schools, local government, and community organizations
• Support health outcomes by reducing barriers to outdoor participation for children, older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, low-income residents, and other underserved rural populations
• Demonstrate potential for measurable outcomes, including increased outdoor access, participation, community partnerships, leadership development, and local economic benefits

Eligible applicants are rural communities in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, or Wyoming.

Up to $15,000 in grants and $1,000 in-kind assistance

Links to additional guidance and the online application are available on the program website.