I’ve heard differing opinions about various deadlines for submitting a grant proposal this year to the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP), such as for Troupville Nature Park and River Camp at the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River, just west of Valdosta, Georgia.

GOSP, Helen Tapp, Land Between the Rivers

So I asked GA-DNR, who replied that grant pre-applications will open this fall, and will be announced this spring. The earliest anything might need to be done with GA-DNR about GOSP is informational webinars, which may be scheduled for May or June.

I’m sticking to my opinion that there’s no point proceeding with a grant application until ongoing park maintenance is lined up. It’s my understanding that Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and One Valdosta-Lowndes have the token to find that maintenance money as well as the rest of the required cash match.

Lowndes County already made a huge step forward by buying Helen Tapp’s Land Between the Rivers for eventual addition to the land already owned by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreational Authority (VLPRA) to form the park. I don’t know of anything else pressing the county needs to do at the moment.

Here is this morning’s response from GA-DNR:

Good morning, John,

Thank you for reaching out, and thanks for your interest in the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program. GOSP offers funding cycles annually, and the next Pre-application window for 2023-2024 will open in Fall 2023. Official announcement of the GOSP funding cycle dates is anticipated to be released this spring, once they are approved by the GOSP Board of Trustees and will be posted at our website.

The Grants Unit will also announce the next round of Educational Workshops for the upcoming 2022-2023 Fall funding cycle at www.gadnr.org/gosp. These will be held in May/June 2023.

If you have not done so already, we recommend that you sign up for email program updates, also found on our website. This is the quickest way to hear about all the important dates for the coming year.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best Regards,

Soheila Naji

Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program Coordinator

Georgia Department of Natural Resources
404-463-8570

Land Between the Rivers at Troupville in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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