Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Round 8 - 2026 California
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Submit Application to Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Round 8 - 2026 California

Overview:

The Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program is a federal National Park Service (NPS) grant program. ORLP involves two competitive layers. First the California Department of Parks and Recreation's Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS) competitively reviews applications. Second, OGALS forwards selected applications to NPS to compete in the nationwide competition.

ORLP focuses on communities with little to no access to publicly available, close-by, outdoor recreation opportunities in urban areas. ORLP funds the acquisition and/or development of new parks, or substantial renovations to parks in urban areas that meet certain population requirements:

OR

  • An Urban Area adjacent to another urban area where the combined population is 25,000 or more

OR

  • A Federally Recognized Tribe’s land with any population.

How to Apply: 

This application is for Round 8, due before 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 28, 2026. State Parks will select a limited number of proposals using the State Competitive Criteria found on the ORLP webpage. Applicants with a successful initial proposal will receive guidance from State Parks to complete the full federal application for the National Review Committee's consideration.

Technical Assistance & Defined Terms

Technical Assistance is available within the application at the end of each criteria and also on the ORLP California Application Requirements webpage. 

This webpage includes: 

  • Application Overview
  • Eligible/Ineligible Costs
  • Technical Assistance
  • Defined Terms that are in ALL CAPS throughout the webpage and defined at the bottom of the webpage.

Keep the following in mind when preparing an application:

  • The online application platform operates best on Google Chrome, Mozilla FireFox, and Apple Safari web browsers.
  • The platform does not support the use of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.
  • The person who starts the application is called an "owner" in the online Submittable system. Only the owner will be able to see and click the submit application button.
  • Applicants can invite other team members to collaborate on the application: click here to learn more.
  • Applicants can manually save by clicking the Save Draft button at the end of this application system. 
  • Submittable recommends not leaving the application open for several hours at a time, as this can occasionally cause a save error. Applicants who work on the proposal throughout the day are recommended to exit the application when not working on it, rather than leaving it open in the background. 
  • Red Asterisks are required fields.
  • A blue Submit button is found at the end of this online application system. Only click the blue Submit button when you are ready to submit the final application.
  • Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS) staff cannot see or review the application in this system until the applicant clicks the submit button.  However, staff can assist with any questions applicants have.  Please contact the National Park Service Project Officer of the county where the project is located.
  • Directions on resetting your password can be found here.