The Park County Travel Council has another $600,000 in Destination Development funds, a portion of which will be given out over the next two years to local projects and organizations. Local groups are already pitching their projects to use some of those funds. 

The council also received $600,000 for the previous two-year cycle, which helped fund such projects as the new mural on the bean mill in Powell, restoration of the Heart Mountain root cellar and improvements to the Outlaw Trails system outside Cody, among other projects. 

All projects are approved by the travel council board.

This time around, PCTC CEO Michael Wambolt said organizations interested in the funds are asking for funding for projects ranging from air service development — the council has previously committed funds for a minimum revenue guarantee to add more flights out of Yellowstone Regional Airport — to another trail system. 

The funds from the state are for tourism-focused community projects within the county that enhance the tourism industry through new outdoor recreation infrastructure, nonresident experiences and other tourism offerings impacting local communities, according to the travel council’s description. 

The program is available to all types of organizations such as for-profit companies and nonprofit entities as well as local, county and tribal governments.

And unlike lodging tax funds, which are more restricted, these monies can be used for developing a destination, Wambolt said in a Monday interview. Cody Yellowstone also uses the funds to keep its branding up to date. Projects for that purpose will be up for board approval at the October meeting.

Requests at the community level have already begun.

At the September meeting, a group including the City of Cody project engineer and project manager, along with former city council member Andy Quick, came forward to ask for support to redesign the Belfry boat launch in Cody. 

Project Engineer Kristofer Bruxvoort said the plans were started a few years back between Quick and former city recreation head Rick Manchester. Since then they’ve developed, with the help of Morrison Maierle, a 30% design that includes a new boat launch, structured parking spaces, ADA bathrooms and a fishing pier, amongst other upgrades. 

Bruxvoort said the city asked for public input before coming up with the plan, which addresses what is needed by both commercial rafting and fishing companies and private recreationalists, of which 80% come for the hiking. 

The boat ramp is a key area for improvement. 

“If you guys have seen the existing boat ramp, it’s very steep and no one uses it. There’s a gravel space to the right of it, which is just to the east,” he said. “That’s where everybody puts their boats in because the existing ramp is far too steep for any trailers or anything to back down.”

The new one will be wide enough for two to three rafts to line up at, he said. 

The bathrooms will also be made ADA accessible. 

Wambolt said the project is a good representation of the kinds of projects the council can assist with utilizing the funds.

“That really fits in that destination development piece, where that boat launch helps travelers come here,” he said. “It’s highly used by our activity partners on the rafting side of things, and so that would be a piece that really fits in that destination development bucket.”