Access digital copies of guides and regulations publications from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Issue link: http://digital.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1329139
10 2 0 2 1 – 2 0 2 5 S TAT E W I D E C O M P R E H E N S I V E O U T D O O R R E C R E AT I O N P L A N Land and Water Conservation Fund State Assistance Program in Nebraska The Land and Water Conservation Fund State Assistance Program has provided funding across Nebraska for 54 years. Federal contributions of more than $49 million have assisted community outdoor recreation projects that were matched by state and local sponsors. Sponsors are required to provide at least a 50% match of the total project cost, which has resulted in more than $98 million being invested in outdoor recreation projects in Nebraska. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) has been designated by the Nebraska Legislature to carry out the purpose and objectives of the LWCF Act on behalf of the State of Nebraska. Per Section §37-906, "Forty percent of the federal funds annually allocated to the State of Nebraska are hereby reallocated to state projects and sixty percent to the projects of political subdivisions." Annual funding requests are ranked using the Open Project Selection Process (OPSP) by an internal Game and Parks Commission committee. Staff recommendations are forwarded to the NGPC Board of Commissioners for approval to allocate the federal funds. Goals of the stateside assistance program are to: (1) meet state and locally identified public outdoor recreation resource needs to strengthen the health and vitality of the American People; (2) increase the number of protected state and local outdoor recreation resources and to ensure their availability for public use in perpetuity; and (3) encourage sound planning and long-term partnerships to expand the quantity and to ensure the quality of needed state and local outdoor recreation resources. Ensuring the grant assisted sites are added permanently to the national recreation estate is a legacy of the stateside assistance program. Section 6(f)(3) of the LWCF Act requires all grant-assisted areas be maintained perpetually in public outdoor recreation use or be replaced by lands of equal market value and recreational usefulness. This section of the LWCF Act guarantees the permanency of outdoor recreation sites across the country for future generations. Labor Day weekend trail ride. (Knox County) More than 1,000 LWCF projects have been completed in Nebraska since inception of the program.