California State Parks’ Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division has awarded $28.1 million in grants and cooperative agreements for 136 off-highway vehicle recreation projects, the department said Oct. 27. Eighty-one local and federal agencies, districts and nonprofit organizations will receive the money.

Demand outstripped the money available: the division said it evaluated more than $44 million in funding requests for the 2026 cycle, known as G26.

By category, ground operations such as trail maintenance received $12,761,067 for 31 projects and law enforcement received $6,000,000 for 67 projects. Restoration projects received $5,599,344 for 10 projects, education and safety $1,500,000 for 19 projects, development $1,500,000 for six projects and planning $738,933 for three projects.

Among the awards, the Southern California Mountains Foundation received $897,873 to restore 8 miles of routes and 40 acres in the Upper Mission Springs, Big Morongo Canyon and Willow Hole areas of the Coachella Valley and Desert Hot Springs region. Butte County Search and Rescue received $31,605 for OHV-related search and rescue patrols on the Lassen and Plumas national forests, and Stanislaus National Forest received $75,000 to add a bathroom at Spicer SNO-Park for summer and winter use.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Eagle Lake Field Office also received funding for annual ground operations maintenance at the Fort Sage and Rice Canyon OHV areas in northeastern California, according to the release.

“The grant awards represent an investment in California’s public lands, the communities that depend on them, and the future of responsible off-highway vehicle recreation,” said Sarah Miggins, deputy director of the OHMVR Division.

The grants are paid from the OHV Trust Fund and also cover habitat restoration where both legal and illegal off-highway driving has done damage. Since the program began in 1974, the division has awarded more than $884 million in grants and other assistance agreements, State Parks said. The full list of 2026 awards is posted on the division’s grants page at ohv.parks.ca.gov.

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California State Parks

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