The Parks and Wildlife Commission grant-review panel on an unspecified date advanced a slate of grant awards that together account for roughly two-thirds of the current funding pool and left the board with a modest remaining balance for additional awards.

Moderator (Unidentified Speaker 2) told members the panel had preliminarily approved about $1,300,000 in grants, “a little bit over 65%” of available funding, leaving roughly $683,000 for further awards. That total and remaining balance framed the day’s deliberations as members discussed 54 full applications mapped for geographic and programmatic gaps.

Board members discussed and moved forward on several top applicants after short presentations and reviewer comments. Southwest Conservation Corps drew support for its Indigenous youth crew, workforce-development elements and presence in remote areas including Durango and Alamosa; the application requested $99,804.06. Groundwork Denver was noted as a long-standing, mission-aligned grantee with a large youth component; staff reported Groundwork had previously received a grant of $99,000 and identified Derek McCoy as the organization’s new executive director.

Smaller or specialized programs also cleared initial support. Reviewers highlighted Bee’s Fingers, a Black-owned climbing gym seeking funding for a van and for staff supports, and Young Masterminds for targeted programming focused on boys’ mental health and mentoring. Several members described these as filling underserved programmatic or demographic gaps.

The board also discussed Outward Bound’s application in depth and agreed to offer a partial award specifically for its emerging leaders fellowship and fellowship field instructors. Members questioned some budget lines, including an item described as an $11,000-per-student-per-day acquisition cost, and proposed restricting a partial award to the fellowship component. The panel agreed to offer $48,580 to Outward Bound for the fellowship instructors pending confirmation from the applicant.

Where board members reached consensus they moved items forward for award; staff said final grant amounts and scopes will be confirmed after applicants accept terms or submit revised scopes where the board required restrictions. The panel paused for lunch with plans to continue discussion of single-mention applicants and to finalize award amounts and reporting requirements.

What’s next: staff will confirm partial-award acceptance from Outward Bound and will request revised scopes or budgets where the board directed funds to specific program components. The board also scheduled follow-ups to allocate remaining funds and to finalize reporting expectations for awardees.