DCNR awards Pike County $1,528,000

New grant cycle opens this month

By SANDY LONG

PIKE COUNTY, PA — In some ways, 2008 proved a profitable year for Pike County, which was enriched with generous funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) through its Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2) in the amount of $1,528,000.

The program targets recreation and conservation projects and provides communities and nonprofit organizations with technical assistance or funding. To achieve this, C2P2 combines funding sources, such as the Commonwealth’s Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund (Key 93), the Environmental Stewardship and Watershed Protection Act (Growing Greener) and Act 68 Snowmobile and ATV Trails Fund. It also seeks federal funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Recreational Trails component of the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-first Century.

“We feel that the program has been vital to providing enhanced community recreation and to helping municipalities acquire additional lands,” said Dennis DeMara, DCNR’s Natural Resource Program Supervisor. Proof can be seen in the breakdown of funding received by Pike during 2008. (Visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/grants and click on “2008 C2P2 Grants List November 2008.”)

Typical projects include rehabilitating community athletic fields, building safer playgrounds, preparing watershed or greenways plans, developing abandoned rail corridors, protecting critical natural or open space areas or constructing snowmobile or ATV trails.

“Pike has done it right and done it well,” said DeMara. “They’ve provided all the tools to their municipalities to help them preserve critical lands and increase recreational opportunities.”

The annual application cycle follows a single application format, which can be obtained through the agency’s website at www.dcnr.state.pa.us. The next cycle begins on January 31 and concludes on April 22. New this year, an electronic grant process allows applicants to apply online and thereby reduce paper consumption. The grants usually require a 50/50 match.

Potential applicants can learn more about the process by attending an upcoming workshop on February 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at The Inn at Nichols Village in Clarks Summit, PA. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society, DCNR will provide information about program priorities and changes, along with pointers on how to develop a competitive project. Information will also be available on the new DCNR eGrant application process.

Projects that help build sustainable communities and promote sound land-use practices are encouraged. To register, contact Emily Schnellbaugh at eschnellbaugh@prps.org or 814/234-4272.

DCNR has also launched a Grants Customer Service Center to provide help on the eGrants system and direct callers with more technical grant questions to the appropriate areas. It can be reached at 800/326-7734 or by email at RA-DCNR-Grants@state.pa.us.

DCNR 2008 grants

Pike County

• $27,000, Dingman Township, prepare a master site development plan for the 300-acre Bridge Preserve in Dingman and Milford Townships.

• $891,000, Santos Property acquisition, payment toward the acquisition of approximately 96 acres off routes 6 and 209 and along the Delaware River for open space and recreation.

• $30,000, Matamoras Borough and Westfall Township Joint Recreation Plan, prepare a multi-municipal comprehensive recreation, parks, open space and greenways plan.

• $30,000, Scenic Rural Character Preservation Bond Support, provide conservation education, training, technical assistance and outreach to the municipalities in the county, including a framework for negotiating, purchasing, monitoring and enforcing conservation easements; assist in land conservation through fee acquisition and/or conservation easement acquisition.

• $550,000, Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Beaver Run Hunting and Fishing Club easement, payment toward the acquisition of a conservation easement on approximately 853 acres along Beaver Run Road in Porter Township for watershed and open space protection.

Pike and Wayne counties

• $25,000, Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Poconos Forest and Waters Conservation Initiative, provide conservation education and outreach to include coordination, planning, development and implementation of the Upper Delaware River Roundtable; conservation and education plan for the Milford Experimental Forest; regional map revisions with the creation of an internet tool and educational materials for landowner outreach.