Deadline: 23-Jan-25
The Great Outdoors Colorado’s (GOCO) Land Acquisition Program seeks to invest in land conservation projects that protect significant conservation values, connect people to place, create landscape scale connectivity, and bolster the health of people and communities.
Partners are invited to submit projects for consideration that protect unique open spaces, natural areas, and agricultural lands with significant conservation values. These include projects that provide public recreation access, essential wildlife habitat and migration corridors, critical watersheds, waterways, and riparian ecosystems, scenic viewsheds and greenways, and farms and ranches.
They will prioritize projects with the most significant conservation outcomes, including those that protect irreplaceable natural resources, provide places for people to connect to the outdoors, contribute to strong resilient ecosystems, and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. They believe GOCO’s most impactful investments prevent imminent threats that are likely to result in a significant land use change or substantially impair the project’s conservation values.
To support the full scope of a land acquisition project and its intended outcomes, applicants may request funding, as needed, for the following components:
- Land acquisition and due diligence costs
- Local capacity building through investments in existing staff, community members and/or consultants
- Community planning, organizing, and collaboration
- Habitat restoration
- Site specific management plans
- Storytelling, project communications and celebrations
Eligible Costs
- Costs associated with project planning/coordination/implementation/communications/celebration.
- Staff expenses incurred by the applicant and any contracted service providers for professional services directly related to project outcomes and administration.
- All costs associated with acquisition including the property interest(s) and associated due diligence costs.
- Costs associated with management planning.
- Costs associated with habitat restoration.
Eligible Projects
- Projects should encompass one or more of GOCO’s program values as identified:
- Resource conservation: They value strategic land conservation and resource protection work.
- Outdoor stewardship: They support sustainability of and improvements to the state’s natural and recreational resources.
- Community vitality: They invest in conservation and outdoor recreation efforts that support communities and quality of life.
- Equitable access: They partner with communities to break down barriers to the outdoors.
- Youth connections: They believe children and their families deserve opportunities to get outside and experience all the benefits of doing so.
Eligibility Criteria
- This program is open to entities eligible to receive GOCO open space and local government funds as listed below:
- Colorado municipality or county.
- Title 32 special district eligible to receive distributions from the Conservation Trust Fund.
- Political subdivision of the State of Colorado that includes in its mission the identification, acquisition, or management of open space and natural areas.
- 501(c)(3) non-profit land conservation organization that includes in its mission the identification, acquisition, or management of open space and natural areas, e.g., land trusts.
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
- Ineligible entities can partner with an eligible entity to apply. As always, GOCO strongly encourages partnerships.
For more information, visit GOCO.