{"id":47984,"date":"2026-07-16T12:38:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=47984"},"modified":"2026-07-16T13:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:02:56","slug":"greenspace-equity-program-proposes-7-million-in-grants-for-fiscal-year-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/07\/16\/greenspace-equity-program-proposes-7-million-in-grants-for-fiscal-year-2027\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenspace Equity Program Proposes $7 Million in Grants for Fiscal Year 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Green

Parks, trails, and other public green spaces are eligible for funding. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Governor Wes Moore\u2019s FY 2027 budget includes $7 million for Maryland\u2019s <\/span>Greenspace Equity Program<\/span><\/a>, supporting 15 projects across nine counties and Baltimore City. This program supports the creation, preservation, and improvement of public green spaces, enhancing the public health and community livability in overburdened and underserved communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Selected projects for FY 2027 include two acquisitions of land for new parks, and the development of new trails, community gardens, playgrounds, and other public green spaces. The Department consulted with the <\/span>Greenspace Equity Advisory Board<\/span><\/a> on the administration of the program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the Greenspace Equity legislation, areas are defined as overburdened if environmental health measures show they are affected by pollution sources at higher levels than other areas, and underserved based on income levels and other key indicators. The grants will be presented to the Board of Public Works for final approval. Any budgeted funds that are not allocated to specific projects will be awarded in future grant rounds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following Greenspace Equity Program projects were selected for FY 2027 funding, subject to BPW approval:<\/span><\/p>\n

Baltimore City<\/b><\/p>\n

BLISS Meadows
\n<\/span><\/i>Backyard Basecamp Inc. will construct a fully accessible trail system, inclusive and interactive play spaces, yurt, benches, and associated amenities.
\n$161,916<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenmount Park
\n<\/span><\/i>ReBuild Metro Inc. will install a playground, plantings, and stormwater management on vacant land in East Baltimore\u2019s Johnston Square Neighborhood. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$750,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Gwynns Falls Leakin Park Trail at Hutton Avenue Improvements
\n<\/span><\/i>Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks will establish trail connections for pedestrians from two major parking lots to the Carrie Murray Nature Center and Gwynns Falls Trail off of Hutton Avenue.
\n$2 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Baltimore County<\/b><\/p>\n

Powhatan Community Garden
\n<\/span><\/i>The NeighborSpace of Baltimore County will install a community garden at Powhatan Park. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$64,890<\/span><\/p>\n

Caroline County<\/b><\/p>\n

Sharp Road Community Park Dog Park
\n<\/span><\/i>The Town of Denton will construct a new dog park at Sharp Road Community Park. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$62,700<\/span><\/p>\n

Goldsboro Train Station Park
\n<\/span><\/i>The Town of Goldsboro will transform the area surrounding the train station into a park with additional site development, inclusive playground, native landscaping, and outdoor interpretive panels. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Garrett County<\/b><\/p>\n

Grantsville Inclusive Playground Renewal
\n<\/span><\/i>The Town of Grantsville will replace an outdated playground with a new ADA accessible inclusive playground. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$320,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Montgomery County<\/b><\/p>\n

Circle Woods Acquisition
\n<\/span><\/i>The City of Takoma Park will acquire three parcels totaling 0.59 acres for a public open green space.
\n$69,250<\/span><\/p>\n

Poolesville Regional Park Acquisition
\n<\/span><\/i>The Town of Poolesville will acquire 30 acres of land in the heart of Poolesville to create a public park. $1 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Prince George\u2019s County<\/b><\/p>\n

Seat Pleasant Giving Garden
\n<\/span><\/i>The City of Seat Pleasant will transform two adjoining lots into a giving garden. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$111,940<\/span><\/p>\n

Queensbury Road Rain Garden Restoration and Greenspace Enhancement
\n<\/span><\/i>The Town of Riverdale Park will restore and enhance an existing rain garden located within the town-owned public right-of-way along Queensbury Road. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$120,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Talbot County<\/b><\/p>\n

Easton Crossing
\n<\/span><\/i>Easton Crossing LLC will create a public accessible greenspace including walkways and paths, bridge, rail-to-trail connection, landscaping, and irrigation. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$750,000<\/span><\/p>\n

BAAM Campus Annex Community Garden and \u2018Safety Town\u2019
\n<\/span><\/i>Building African American Minds (BAAM) will construct a community garden with raised beds, pollinator gardens, benches, landscaping, and outdoor educational areas. The project will also include Safety Town, a to-scale paved area designed to replicate neighborhood streets and intersections for residents to practice safety skills while walking and biking. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$274,140<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington County<\/b><\/p>\n

Marty Snook Park Multimodal Trail and Parking
\n<\/span><\/i>Washington County will construct a looped, multimodal paved trail at Mary Snook Park by creating a safe, dedicated pathway parallel to the main park access road. <\/span>
\n<\/span>$700,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Worcester County<\/b><\/p>\n

Newton Park Perimeter Trail
\n<\/span><\/i>Worcester County will develop an approximately one-mile passive walking trail at Newton Park.
\n$200,000<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor Wes Moore\u2019s FY 2027 budget includes $7 million for Maryland\u2019s Greenspace Equity Program, supporting 15 projects across nine counties and Baltimore City. This program supports the creation, preservation, and improvement of public green spaces, enhancing the public health and community livability in overburdened and underserved communities. Selected projects for FY 2027 include two acquisitions  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,23],"tags":[3565,5497,5000,5508,5708,5353],"class_list":["post-47984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-land","tag-grants","tag-greenspace-equity-program","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-parks","tag-public-land","tag-wes-moore"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47984"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47991,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47984\/revisions\/47991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}