- Saving Your Piece of the Planet
A Citizens' Guide to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program, published by our partner, Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation, and the Wilderness Society.
- Public Funding, Public Recognition
David Fisher, Former Superintendent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, believes that "if you can bring decision-making down to the community level, you will find that communities will decide in favor of parks and revitalization."
- Financing Parks: A Borrowing Guide
Evaluate the myriad options for paying for parks - from straight-ahead taxes to more arcane sources like "Negotiated Extractions" and "Bond Banks." From Building Together: Investing in Community Infrastructure.
- Financing Parks: A Pay-As-You-Go Guide
More options for paying for parks, from Building Together: Investing in Community Infrastructure.
- Tips on Passing a Bond Referendum
Why do some places make it look easy, routinely passing referenda for millions of dollars, while others watch bond proposals get defeated?
- Local Bond Acts
Other ways of getting local funds to acquire land and/or conserve it can be found at the Land Trust Alliance.
- Local Parks, Local Financing: Increasing Public Investment in Parks and Open Space
Another excellent report in TPL's series on park funding. Consultant Kim Hopper discusses the financial tools communities use to create parks, protect open space, and support recreational facilities. Includes examples.
- Paying for Urban Parks Without Raising Taxes
National parks expert Peter Harnik covers park financing, focusing on funding techniques beyond traditional tax allocations. A report from our partner, the Trust for Public Land.
- State & Local Funding
A toolkit of state and local funding initiatives, case studies, links and other interesting publications, research and excerpts, from the Trust for Public Land.
- Money from the Feds: UPARR
The Urban Park and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) program, targeted to economically distressed urban cities, is one of the few sources of federal funds for urban parks projects. Read more on the National Park Service website.
- Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program: An Overview
Understanding and accessing UPARR funding for inner-city playgrounds, urban environmental education, recreation centers and more. From Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation.
- The Land and Water Conservation Fund:
An Overview
Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation gives the basics on this fund, which has has helped communities acquire nearly seven million acres of parkland, water resources, and open space.
- Public Financing
These case studies from the Trust for Public Land detail conservation finance examples from around the nation.
- Federal Funding
Information about federal funding for land conservation and pending legislation that may affect communities' efforts to create parks and protect open space. From Trust for Public Land.
- Federal Funds for Urban Forest Research
Through its challenge cost-share grant program, the National Urban and Community Forest Advisory Council promotes projects that are applicable to urban forests nationwide.
- The Neighborhood Matching Fund: Building Community in Seattle
Jim Diers, Director of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, describes the city's commitment to community: its neighborhood grant-matching program.
- Small Grants Reap Large Rewards in Savannah, Georgia
A Success Story from the Urban Parks Institute.
