OLYMPIA– The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) is looking for people to help decide where millions of dollars should be invested in Washington’s parks, trails and other outdoor recreation amenities.
RCO is recruiting nearly 50 volunteers to fill positions on 19 advisory committees that evaluate grant applications and score proposals for parks, trails, boating amenities, firearm and archery ranges and other outdoor recreation facilities, as well as proposals to conserve wildlife habitat and working farms and forests.
“These grants help ensure that Washington has vibrant outdoor places for people to recreate, relax and get some exercise,” said Megan Duffy, RCO director. “The first step to making sure we have those great places is to find people with a variety of outdoor interests who can help assess projects.”
The roughly 200 advisory committee members help the agency evaluate about 500 grant proposals every two years. Advisory committee members attend a few days of virtual meetings every other year and provide feedback to applicants, score grant applications and occasionally offer policy input.
The office is looking for advisors with interest in recreating on or protecting public land, experience buying and developing land and especially experience conserving forests, farms and wildlife habitat.
To Apply
Stipends are available to eligible advisors. Visit RCO’s volunteer web pages to learn more about the different advisory committees. Applications are due October 13.
Editors: A downloadable public service announcement video and photographs are available online.