Since 1994, the NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund has been making grants to improve state and local parks and improve public access to North Carolina’s beaches.

• Sixty-five percent of the funds are used to buy land for new and existing state parks and to build and renovate park facilities
• Thirty percent of the funds provide dollar-for-dollar grants to local governments to help them acquire land and to develop local parks and recreational projects
• Five percent is used to buy land and build trails to increase the public’s access to the state’s beaches and estuaries.

The NC Parks and Recreation currently receives about $45 million per year and has now made grants in 98 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.  Land for Tomorrow recommends that this fund receive an additional $33 million per year.

Land for Tomorrow also recommends that the Trust Fund board give special consideration to local government projects that can help protect air quality and improve public health through trails and greenways that provide alternative transportation routes and that protect and create urban forests in areas of the state that are not meeting federal air quality standards.