Backcountry mapping app onX is looking to put money back into backcountry recreation, with another round of Adventure Forever grants. Although most onX users are not gas enthusiasts, this program is still worth looking into if you have a trail club that wants money to improve the trails in your area.
The grants aim to preserve public access to the backcountry, protecting that access through good stewardship. The company says it has already secured or improved access to 154,000 acres of public lands through its 2018-2023 grants, helping build and maintain 255 miles of trails. Now, the grants are back for 2024, with money available to nonprofits, land trusts, tribal nations and other community groups for six different types of projects:
Types of projects we support:
- Acquire and retain: Acquisition of land (fee simple) with the dual objective of securing public access and conserving ecosystems. Land may ultimately be transferred to a public agency or remain private with a long-term conservation agreement or plan.
- Protect access routes: Right-of-way easements and land acquisitions to secure long-term access to public land or water through private land.
- Build trails that give back: New, well-planned and sustainably constructed trails. Preference will be given to trail proposals with multiple social and/or environmental objectives.
- Support voluntary access to private lands: Programs and agreements that provide public access to private lands in a manner that benefits landowners, recreational access, and wildlife habitat. This category includes state-administered programs, as well as conservation easements that allow public access.
- Restore trails and riding areas: Efforts to maintain, restore, reroute trails, or clean up litter on public lands or private lands accessible to the public. Preference will be given to projects where overuse or abuse negatively impacts recreational opportunities and/or the ecosystem.
- Develop the community of union delegates: Programs that instill the ethic of stewardship through education and inspiration.
Today, most onX users are hunters, fishermen, hikers, and other types of people who seek nature itself, not the use of nature as a motorcycle playground.
While onX has become famous as a hunting and fishing aid, the company also markets its app to off-roaders. Image: onX
Some of these people are adamantly opposed to motorized vehicles in the backcountry. But onX itself seems to want to court the motorcycle publicso again, if you have an enduro bike club or other non-profit group that could use some financial assistance to improve local trails, you might want to check out more details on grants. here. Note that the first round of applications closes on May 17, 2024, but a second round of applications will close in August.
