OLYMPIA – A $325,000 grant was awarded to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to improve access to Silver Nail Lake a designated lake for juvenile and senior anglers near Oroville
Okanogan County received $11,307,247 of the $148 million awarded by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board for projects across the state that will build and improve parks and trails, conserve irreplaceable wildlife habitat and maintain land for farming and forestry.
“These grants are critical to keeping Washington a premiere destination for outdoor adventure as well as a great place for Washingtonians to live,” said Megan Duffy, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office, which supports the board. “These grants are key to building great communities. The grants help communities light ball fields, make parks accessible to people with disabilities, connect gaps in trail systems, refurbish pools and resurface pickleball courts.”
While many of the grants were awarded to projects in the Methow Valley, a grant of $325,000 was awarded to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to improve access to Silver Nail Lake, just north of Oroville. The lake is designated for juvenile and senior anglers and anglers with disabilities only.
“It’s difficult to find the entrance and to bank fish. To enter the lake, a visitor must travel through a trailer park and scrap yard, and without knowing exactly where to turn, wouldn’t know there was a public access point. Additionally, once at the lake, there is no real parking space and the shoreline is overgrown with invasive Siberian elms and Russian olive trees, making bank fishing near impossible,” says the WSDF&W.
The department will improve the entrance, designate a parking area, install a floating fishing dock, add kiosks and signs, trim brush and lay a gravel path to a fishing pad, picnic table and hand boat launch.
Several studies have shown the value outdoor recreation provides to communities and have estimated that it supports more than 6 percent of all jobs in Washington.[1]
“Recreation not only is important to Washington’s economy, but to the health of the people who recreate here,” Duffy said. “Countless studies have shown that spending time outside can improve a person’s physical and mental health, reduce stress and even improve eyesight. It also does so much for our kids, including helping them improve their social connections and school grades. These grants are important for ensuring there are great places to recreate across Washington.
In total, the board awarded 242 grants to projects in 35 of the state’s 39 counties. The board received 411 applications requesting more than $266 million in funding, meaning just more than half (59 percent) of the projects received funding.
In addition to recreation, the grants help cities, counties, Tribes and state agencies conserve valuable undeveloped areas for wildlife and conserve forests and farmlands for the future.
“Washington is known for its great outdoor spaces and its legacy of farming and forestry,” Duffy said. “As Washington’s population grows, if we don’t conserve that land now, it won’t be there to continue those legacies.”
Grants were awarded in the counties listed below. Descriptions of the projects are online at https://rco.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/NEWS-298-RecGrantDescriptions.pdf.
