The largest program under the Texas Recreation and Parks Account (TRPA) Program is the Indoor Recreation Grant. The Indoor Recreation Grants program provides 50% matching grant funds to municipalities, counties, MUDs, and other local units of government to construct recreation centers and other facilities. The grant maximum is $750,000 per application.

Application deadlines are July 31st each year. Awards are distributed in January each year. This program can be used for community centers, indoor pools, gymnasiums, and other indoor facilities. Applicants to this program must develop and adopt a master park plan prior submitting an application for this program. Local Government Services staff assists communities in developing master parks plans for communities at no cost.

The Outdoor Recreation Grants program can meet the large outdoor park needs of communities and provides 50% matching grant funds to acquire and develop parkland, expand existing parks, or to renovate existing public recreation areas. The maximum grant awarded is $500,000. Eligible sponsors include cities, counties, MUDs, and other special districts. Projects must be completed within three years of approval.

Application deadlines are January 31st and July 31st each year. Awards are distributed in August and January respectively. Communities have used these funds for traditional parks, golf courses, shooting ranges, and a myriad of other outdoor recreational activities. This program also requires a master park plan prior to applying, but LGS staff is available to assist with this process.

Many Panhandle Communities could benefit from the TRPA Small Community Grant that allows cities, counties, water districts, and other governmental entities to acquire land, update existing facilities, and develop parkland. This grant program was created in 2001 to meet the recreation needs of small Texas communities with a population of 20,000 and under. It is funded through a portion of sales tax received on select sporting good items. The grant provides 50% matching grant funds (maximum $50,000) to eligible entities.

Funds must be employed for the development or beautification of parkland. Eligible projects include ball fields, boating, fishing, and hunting facilities, picnic facilities, playgrounds, swimming pools, trails, camping facilities, beautification, restoration, gardens, sports courts and support facilities. The deadline for this program is January 31st each year and this program does not require a master park plan to be in place.

Recently communities in the Panhandle have been funded through the TPRA Recreational Trails Grant program for establishing or maintaining hiking, biking, and jogging trails. The Recreational Trails Grant is funded by the Federal Highway Administration and requires only a 20% match on grants of up to $200,000. This program is also available for the establishment or maintenance of motorized vehicle trails such as All Terrain Vehicles and Motorcycles.

The application deadline for this program is May 1st of each year, and the program does not require a master park plan to be in place.

An educational program that has not been tapped into by communities in the Panhandle is the Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP) grant that helps to introduce under-served populations to the services, programs, and sites of Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. This is not a land acquisition or construction grant. It may be used for only educational outdoor programs.

Grants are awarded to non-profit organizations, schools, municipalities, counties, cities, and other tax-exempt groups. Minimum grant requests are $5,000 and maximum grant requests are $50,000 with no matching required. The application deadline is February 1st and October 1st with awards on April 15th and December 15th.