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DNR staff rewrite Outdoor Recreation Mitigation grant to emphasize reimbursements, prefilled county data and clearer SAR/EMS sections
Summary
Division of Outdoor Recreation staff presented a rewritten grant application that splits search-and-rescue, EMS, road and solid-waste questions, adds prefilled county data and leans on cost-based measures for prioritization; the board agreed to adopt an industry visitor definition and to refine questions before a July 15 launch.
Division of Outdoor Recreation staff on the Utah Department of Natural Resources presented a significantly revised draft of the Outdoor Recreation Mitigation grant application and the board largely agreed on key structural changes.
Staff said the application now removes some visitor-specific fields, pre-fills county data where possible and splits the former single “visitor-related emergency” section into separate search-and-rescue (SAR), EMS, road and solid-waste sections to reduce confusion and improve reviewability. The presenter said the changes aim to “make it easier for folks to understand what we’re trying to help them with” and to limit unnecessary fields such as precise project longitude/latitude when projects span multiple locations.
The board also agreed to shift several hard-to-answer questions away from raw visitation counts toward cost-based measures — asking for documented unpaid costs, ledgers and supporting documentation — and to provide heavier administrative guidance in the first review round so county submissions are comparable. Division staff told the board they will produce guidance for applicants after the first round of submissions.
Jason Curry, division director, provided an estimate of available funds used in planning: staff projected roughly $6–7 million annually based on historical transient room tax collections, which influenced prioritization discussions. Board members repeatedly emphasized the program’s initial design as a reimbursement-focused effort rather than a broad discretionary grant.
On timing, staff said the application and program guide will be circulated for final review and the portal will open before a planned July 15 launch. "I'll share them out with everybody just to get a final look before the application launches July 15th," a division representative said.
Why it matters: The changes are intended to make the first application round administrable for both small rural counties that lack detailed visitation metrics and reviewers who will compare a limited number of applications. By focusing on reimbursing documented visitor-related emergency costs, the program aims to put available funds toward demonstrated local burdens rather than estimated visitation impacts.
What's next: Staff will circulate the updated application and program guide, finalize the online portal, and prepare applicant guidance documents. The board expects to review the first round of submissions and adjust questions and evaluation guidance based on what counties submit.
