Access + Stewardship Grants

Preserving and Creating Access to Outdoor Adventures

The majority of onX customers rely on access to public land and publicly open private land for their outdoor adventures. But with the pace of land development, our current and future outdoor recreation and hunting opportunities are being fragmented, scaled down, and lost. Plus, there are millions of acres of public land we can’t legally access without the permission of a neighboring landowner. At the same time, the popularity of outdoor activities is increasing, so stewardship of the land and resources that we do have access to is ever more critical.

Therefore, we devote a portion of our sales every year to secure and protect public access, and to restore and maintain the trails that support outdoor adventures. By 2023, onX endeavors to help secure or improve public access to 150,000 acres, and to help restore, secure, or build 150 miles of trails. Here’s where we stand:

Project Definitions:

“Access projects” are those that purchase land for public access, projects which secure public routes where access isn’t guaranteed in perpetuity, and private land access agreements which reward private landowners for creating public access opportunities. Priority will be given to projects that establish new publicly accessible land in regions of limited public access, and those that create new access to otherwise inaccessible (“landlocked”) public lands.

Types of access projects that can receive onX Access + Stewardship Grants:

  • Land purchases
  • Land swaps
  • Conservation easements with public access
  • Trail or road easements for public access
  • Private landowner access programs managed by—or in partnership with— a state agency
  • Trail building that will improve or permanently secure access in places where alternative route(s) are being closed

“Stewardship projects” are those that rehabilitate or restore land where overuse or abuse are negatively impacting recreation and wildlife habitat, as well as those that build sustainable trails or restore trails that need maintenance, especially those at risk of closure. Money can be used for construction costs including materials, hired labor, equipment rental, and tools.

Types of stewardship projects that can receive onX Access + Stewardship Grants:

  • Ecological restoration which is necessary due to the impacts of outdoor recreation
  • Trail maintenance or re-routing to reduce impacts of recreation activities
  • Rebuilding existing trails to be sustainable or multi-use
  • Recreation infrastructure (signs to educate and inform, structures and amenities to reduce user impacts to the site, and designs to improve access for all abilities)

For examples of projects we’ve funded in the past, please refer to this map and our three-year look-back summary.

Funding Details:

  • Applications must be for a specific project, and if granted must be used for that specific project. 
  • We do not grant funds for general operating costs.
  • Funding amounts will vary based on project type, location, and our scoring criteria but amounts granted will generally be between $5,000 and $20,000. 
  • We don’t require a specific percentage match, but we will carefully review other funding sources and partners that have been secured.
  • We understand that some land acquisitions, swaps, and restoration projects may take years to finalize and have a lot of dependencies. Please describe long time frames and dependencies on your application. These situations will not be eliminated from receiving funding merely on the basis of a lengthy process, but we need to know about these factors from the beginning.

Factors We Weigh:

  • Project location (at the state and regional scales, and within the local landscape)
  • Project size
  • Project type
  • Diversity of nearby communities
  • Level of positive impact for local communities
  • Community engagement and receptivity of the project or of similar projects that have been completed in the area
  • Variety in outdoor activities and multiple recreational uses the site will support
  • Project timeline and length of positive impact
  • Other sources of funding

Grants Cannot Be Used For:

  • Races, clinics, or classes
  • Staff salaries
  • Accessories, outdoor gear or equipment
  • Marketing
  • T-shirts or other swag
  • Upgrades or construction of roads, parking lots, pit toilets, or restrooms at recreation sites
  • General operating budgets
  • Litigation

Who Can Apply:

  • Land trusts
  • Conservation and stewardship organizations
  • Park foundations
  • State agencies
  • Tribal and local governments
  • Trail associations
  • Recreation clubs

All grantees must be based in the United States.

Deadlines:

  • The last round closed on July 7, 2023 at 6:00 PM Mountain Time.
  • We are currently updating our grant program for 2024, and in the meantime the application form will be closed. The deadlines for 2024 will be posted here after updates are complete.

Requirements If Selected:

  • Regular updates via email until the project is completed and open to the public.
  • Photos of the project site that we can utilize on our webpage and social media. Photographers will be credited where possible.
  • A press release that acknowledges funding from onX once the project is complete, or when it is announced publicly. In some cases, an earned media story in a local or regional newspaper may be substituted if your organization is quoted and onX is mentioned.
  • Quotes about the project from local community members and/or those that helped make the project a success. We will utilize these quotes on our communication channels.
  • Share links of any media coverage about the project with us.

Application Process:

  • Complete the application form by clicking the button below. If you would like to read the questions on the form before you begin, open the application form and click the down arrow to scroll through the questions. Clicking the OK button will require you fill out all required questions. 
  • If you have any questions while completing the form, or if you have any trouble with the form, please email us at access@onxmaps.com.
  • If you have multiple projects that fit our project definitions, please submit each project as a separate application.
  • We will review your application and score each project against our funding criteria. We will review applications throughout the year, but final selections will take place after the deadline for the current round.
  • If you submit an application and your project is on a tight timeline for funding, please send an email to access@onxmaps.com to explain the urgency of the situation. 
  • If your project is not selected, we’ll inform you by email.
  • If your project is selected for further consideration, we will contact you by email to set up a time to discuss it in more detail by phone or video conference. This will be our opportunity to get to know your organization and ask all the follow-up questions our review panel may have.
  • Once we’ve had follow-up phone calls/video conferences about each project, we’ll make our final selections for that round.

Only applications submitted through the form will be accepted. Emailed responses to the questions, letters of interest, and letters of request will not be considered.

Funding for 2023 has been completed. Applications submitted now will need to be re-submitted next year. Please check back in 2024.

Thank you for your interest in onX Access + Stewardship Grants. We’re looking forward to learning about all the great work happening around the country in support of outdoor recreation!