Emily Meadows, the division’s statewide recreation planning coordinator, briefed the commission on the Outdoor Recreation Planning Assistance (ORPA) program, a one-time $1.5 million allocation launched in 2024 to provide technical planning support for towns and counties.

Meadows said ORPA was designed to reduce barriers for smaller or rural jurisdictions that lack in-house planning capacity. The 2024 grant round received 43 eligible applications requesting about $4.5 million; 21 applications were awarded (full or partial awards) using the $1.5 million allocation. Eligible applicants included municipalities, counties, state and tribal governments, federal partners and nonprofits; the maximum request amount was $200,000 and no financial match was required.

Meadows described typical eligible activities: master planning, feasibility studies, conceptual design and engineering, NEPA, and other pre-construction planning tasks. The program prioritized projects in smaller counties and projects that would make applicants more competitive for future infrastructure grants. Meadows said staff hope to keep ORPA running and proposed setting aside $2.5 million for the next year to meet demand and to support development of a Utah trails planning and design handbook and rural toolkits.

Commissioners and attendees noted the importance of follow-up training on operations and maintenance once projects are built; Meadows and others said training and a handbook would help communities sustain new trail assets.

Why it matters: ORPA funds planning work that prepares communities to submit stronger infrastructure grant applications and reduces the risk that projects stall for lack of design, NEPA or community engagement work.