AUSTIN In honor of the State Park Centennial Celebration, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP) has awarded the largest sum of grant funding in the program’s history and support a record-breaking number of organizations connecting under-represented audiences to Texas State Parks.
More than $2.8 million will create 55 new grant-funded partnerships to help communities in promoting the value of recreation and conservation across Texas.
CO-OP grant recipients are as diverse as the communities in Texas they serve. They include conservation groups, nature centers, summer camps, churches, school districts and municipalities. Funding supports a range of projects: students monitoring water quality along the Rio Grande at Big Bend Ranch State Park, deaf youth engaged in nature study with the aid of ASL interpreters, communities of color hiking at Fort Davis State Park while connecting with the cultural history of Buffalo Soldiers and breast cancer survivors discovering the healing power of fly-fishing in our rivers. Each project removes barriers for Texans to connect with nature and the mission of TPWD, learning to hunt, fish, camp or paddle and beginning a lifelong path to conservation stewardship.
CO-OP was established by TPWD in 1996 to introduce under-represented audiences to environmental education, conservation and outdoor recreation programs. The program is housed under the Recreation Grants Branch in TPWD’s State Parks Division and is funded through a portion of the Sporting Goods Sales Tax collected in Texas. All grant projects are competitively funded through an annual Request for Proposals process and reviewed by an internal committee according to scoring criteria approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. Grant funds may be used for supplies, travel, training, food, personnel costs and equipment for ongoing use.
Over the past 27 years, TPWD has awarded $27 million around the state to assist in this effort.
Some of the local organizations that received funding are:
ALPINE
Big Bend Conservation Alliance: $19,675
Presidio River Rangers brings together 25 rural middle school students for intensive Texas Stream Team training to collect monthly water quality data at remote locations on the Rio Grande River and within Big Bend Ranch State Park. Guided river trips connect student data to aquatic health issues; TPWD staff from Fort Davis, Balmorhea and Big Bend Ranch, along with Master Naturalist volunteers, share additional conservation expertise.
ODESSA
Ector County Independent School District: $25,000
Travel, Learn & Camp (TLC) incorporates accessible components of outdoor recreation for young adults, ages 18–22, living with severe disabilities. Augmented reality glasses allow simulated fishing practice; videos from park staff on the TPWD YouTube channel provide ongoing training in camping, outdoor cooking, boating and fishing to prepare participants to camp overnight at Davis Mountains, Monahans Sandhills and Possum Kingdom state parks.
