Overview

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Program is a federal program authorized by Congress for the purpose of acquiring federal lands and assisting states and local governments with funds to acquire lands and develop and renovate outdoor recreation facilities.  LWCF funds are appropriated by Congress to the U. S. Department of the Interior, National Parks Service (NPS), and NPS allocates the funds through state agencies as a grant program to state and local governments.  Grantees must match the grant award dollar for dollar.

The LWCF Program, first authorized in 1965, has resulted in Georgia receiving over $120 million in matching grant funds. The program was reauthorized and received permanent funding in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 respectively.  With the permanent funding, it is anticipated that Georgia will receive $5-7 million annually.

In order to efficiently administer the grant funds, LWCF moved to a bi-annual grant cycle.  With two years of allocations to award, an estimate of $12 million will be available to local governments during the 2024-2025 grant cycle.

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Program Reminders

LWCF requires a dollar-for-dollar match for all grant request.

The minimum grant request is $25,000 ($50,000 total project).

The maximum grant request is $500,000 ($1 million total project).

Only one application can be submitted for an LWCF project per jurisdiction.

For those who have applied for LWCF grants in the past, be mindful that scoring criteria has changed.

Applicants may submit pre-applications for both LWCF Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program, but applications must be for separate projects. 

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Julianne Carroll julianne.carroll@dnr.ga.gov or 404-463-8393.

Educational Videos

2024-2025 Educational Webinar (June 2024)

How to better your LWCF application (October 2023)

Contact Us

Julianne Carroll, LWCF Grants Specialist (reimbursements, extensions, quarterly reports, etc.))

404.463.8393 |  julianne.carroll@dnr.ga.gov 

Rayne Gaston, LWCF Grant Coordinator (active grants/compliance)

404.290.4958  |  rayne.gaston1@dnr.ga.gov