ROUND 2011B IS CLOSED

The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission (NCPRPDC), in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), is encouraging local governments and municipal entities that are interested in expanding the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways network to apply for funding to the Commission’s North Central Greenways Implementation Grant Program. This program is funded by a grant from DCNR.

Although trail groups and conservation organizations are not eligible for direct funding, they are encouraged to partner with their local government to apply.

The deadline for applications is August 31, 2011. Eligible applicants must be within the north central Pennsylvania region comprising Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter counties.

The intent of the North Central Greenways Implementation Grant Program is to provide funding for smaller conservation and natural resource based projects that would implement the recommendations identified in the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan. Project categories include development, planning and technical assistance.

Grant requests should not exceed $25,000, and can account for no more than 50% of the total project cost. Match can be provided by in-kind services and cash match. Special consideration will be given to projects that involve opportunities for collaboration among local and state agencies to fund these projects.

NCPRPDC, in cooperation with the counties of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter, developed the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan, which was completed in June 2010 and adopted by the north central counties by October 2010. The goal of the plan is to develop a network of trails and natural area corridors linking municipalities, parks, and important historic and cultural places. The plan can be found at www.ncentralgreenways.com. An electronic copy of the plan on compact disc can also be provided upon request.

For more information about the North Central Greenways Implementation Grant Program and an application, visit the NCGIG Program section of the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways website.

If you have questions or need more information, please contact Tom Buck, Transportation Planning Coordinator, at 814-773-3162, ext. 3012 or tbuck@ncentral.com.

The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission (NCPRPDC) and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) are pleased to announce that Jefferson County was awarded $25,000 from the North Central Greenways Implementation Grant (NCGIG) Program to develop of 13.5 miles of the Redbank Trail in Jefferson County. This project is a partnership of Jefferson County, Allegheny Valley Land Trust, and Redbank Valley Trails Association.

“We received a lot of good applications in this first grant round from across the region,” says Matt Marusiak, NCPRPDC Community Development Coordinator, “including projects for trail towns, trail development, and feasibility studies. However, only the Redbank project was really ready to go. I will provide feedback to the other the applicants to get them ready to submit for the next round.” Marusiak says that next round will open by July 5, 2011. “That’s the great thing about the NCGIG program,” he adds. “We’ll have grant rounds on a quarterly basis as long as we have the funding.”

The intent of the North Central Greenways Implementation Grant Program is to provide funding for smaller conservation and natural resource based projects that would implement the recommendations identified in the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan. Project categories include development, planning and technical assistance. NCPRPDC received $150,000 grant from the DCNR to initiate the NCGIG Program.

NCPRPDC, in cooperation with the counties of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter, developed the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan, which was completed in June 2010 and adopted by the north central counties by October 2010. The goal of the plan is to develop a network of trails and natural area corridors linking municipalities, parks, and important historic and cultural places. The plan can be found at www.ncentralgreenways.com.

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is encouraging local governments and nonprofit groups which are interested in providing or improving public boating facilities to apply for funding through the agency’s Boating Facility Grant Program.

“The program is designed to help local governments and eligible nonprofit groups, including land trusts, conservancies and watershed associations, provide or improve public recreational boat access facilities in their communities,” said PFBC Executive Director John Arway. “Organizations that represent State Heritage Areas designated by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources may also submit projects.”

“Private businesses and service clubs are not eligible for direct funding but are encouraged to partner with their local government and other qualified groups to apply for funding,” he said.

The deadline for applications is May 31. Eligible non-profits must be classified as 501c3 organizations by the Internal Revenue Service.

Applicants may seek grants for property acquisition, project design and engineering, development, expansion and major rehabilitation of recreational boat access facilities.  Activities must benefit and directly support public recreational boating.  Grant funds may not be used for routine maintenance or operation activities.

Eligible activities include the rehabilitation, expansion or construction of new boat ramps, courtesy docks, access roads, parking areas, restrooms, and signs and localized landscaping. Eligible projects must occur on public lands owned by the project sponsor, or where the sponsor has a long-term lease or agreement on the site.

“For the 2011 round of grants, the PFBC will accept applications from anywhere in the Commonwealth,” said Laurel Anders, PFBC Director of Boating and Access. “However, we will take a more focused and limited approach to selecting projects this year, focusing on ones that follow the priorities established in the Pennsylvania Fishing and Boating Access Strategy and in President Obama’s Executive Order 13508 relating to the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.”

“Specifically, we are looking for projects along water trails designated by the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network and projects located in the top 10 watersheds identified in the Pennsylvania Fishing and Boating Access Strategy,” she said.

“The Boating Facility Grant Program is a competitive grant program,” Anders added. “The Commission’s ability to issue grant awards is predicated on the availability of both internal and external funding sources. Applications will be reviewed and ranked, and awarded subject to the availability of funding. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to become familiar with the grant program guidelines and contact the Commission prior to submitting an application.”

For more information about the Boating Facility Grant Program and an application, visit the Boating Facility Grant Program section of the PFBC web site. For more information on the Pennsylvania Fishing and Boating Access Strategy please visit the Commission website at: fishandboat.com/accessplan.htm.

The mission of the Fish and Boat Commission is to protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources and provide fishing and boating opportunities.  For more information about fishing and boating in Pennsylvania, please visit our website at www.fishandboat.com.

For more information, contact:
Eric Levis
elevis@state.pa.us
717.705.7806

This comprehensive one-day course will focus on innovative and effective practices to reduce maintenance costs and sediment pollution from unpaved roads.

The course will be held on March 8, 2011 at the Courtyard Restaurant in Smethport, PA.

The registration fee is  $15.00 per person (includes refreshments, lunch), and registration deadline is March 1, 2011.

Course Content:

The one-day ESM course consists of 12 individual chapters:

• “Natural Systems” and how they affect your roads
• Introduction to Environmentally Sensitive Maintenance Practices
• Off Right-of-Way Influences: Driveways, trails, farm lanes, more
• Roadside Vegetation Management
• Roadside Banks
• Road and Steam Interfaces
• Parallel Road Ditches
• Ditch Outlets (turnouts, culverts, etc.)
• Driving Surface Aggregate
• Road Surface Maintenance
• Road Surface Drainage
• Additional Maintenance Techniques

This workshop has been developed through Pennsylvania’s Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance Program to promote practices that reduce maintenance costs and sediment pollution from unpaved roads. The intent of this course is to share the lessons learned and practices developed through Pennsylvania’s Program with other road maintenance professionals.

For additional information contact:

McKean County Conservation District
Sandy Thompson District Manager
17137 Route 6
Smethport, PA 16749
Phone: 814-887-4001
sdthompson@mckeancountypa.org

Looking to make a difference in your community? Want to “go greener” in your town for 2011 with solutions that will help keep Pennsylvania water resources clean and healthy?

The Water Resources Education Network has funding available up to $5,000 to help launch community projects that build awareness and educate Pennsylvania citizens and local officials about their role as environmental stewards, encourage behavior change, and improve public policies that will protect PA water resources.

WREN gives priority to projects that incorporate social marketing concepts and encourage individual or public policy actions that will protect and improve local water resources.

Since 1992, LWVPA-CEF has provided over $1.8 million in funding to over 277 community partnerships working to safeguard Pennsylvania water resources. 
See the terrific projects we’ve already funded to get some creative ideas.  Use these ideas to develop your own project – no need to re-invent the wheel!

For the 2011 round, WREN offers two separate funding tracks:

A Watershed Protection Education Project track that builds awareness, educates Pennsylvania local officials about their role as environmental stewards and offers specific actions that citizens can take at home, at work, and within the community to protect, improve, or remediate the watershed from the impacts of polluted runoff, also known as nonpoint source pollution. To encourage connection to local land use decisions, a municipality is required to be an active partner in the project.

Nonpoint source pollution includes: drainage or runoff from resource extraction, abandoned coal mines, oil or gas wells;  inadequate erosion control practices during construction and urban runoff;  improper agricultural practices (erosion and sedimentation, nutrient management, pesticide application);  improper timber harvesting practices; failing on-lot septic systems or other abandoned waste disposal sites; or altered hydrology (changing the way water flows through an area) due to impervious surface area, stormwater, and floodplain management, riparian buffers, wetlands, natural stream channels. Grant award: up to $5,000 per project.

The WREN Source Water Protection Education Grant Program seeks to develop a network of Source Water Environmental Education Teams (SWEETs) to help Pennsylvania communities and public water suppliers conduct grass roots public education and to implement prevention actions at the local level that will reduce risks to public water sources.  

The goal of the WREN Source Water Protection (SWP) Education Grant Program is to encourage local partnerships to conduct community education and help residents and businesses implement practical, step by step solutions to reduce risk of contamination and to protect the rivers, steams, lakes, and aquifers Pennsylvanians rely on for their public drinking water.

Local source water protection programs helps provide an extra margin of safety to water coming out of the tap, and offer the best line of defense to protect public health, ensure high quality drinking water for future generations, and keep treatment costs down.

Grants of up to $5,000 per project for local source water protection projects that concentrate on a specific community public water supply protection area.  One regional project will be awarded up to $8,000 that will focus aquifer wide (groundwater systems) and/or watershed protection efforts (surface water), which includes multiple public water systems, and addresses cross-jurisdictional issues. 

Applications are due by March 25, 2011. Grantees to be announced by mid May 2011, with project activities to be completed July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012.

Guidance and application forms are available online.   Get all the details, and download the Grant Guidance and Application at the WREN website.

Questions?Call Julie Kollar, WREN Program Director at 267-468-0555 or send email to: juliekwren@verizon.net.

The Transportation Enhancement Program offers broad opportunities and federal funding for creative projects that integrate transportation into our communities and environment. These programs are intended to improve the quality of life in our communities by sprucing up the streets that run through town centers and that provide vital connections that will bring people back to our town centers and promote healthy living. This program has two primary objectives: To encourage the reinvestment, redevelopment and connectivity of our downtowns, and to establish, where feasible, safe walking routes for our children to commute to school and to promote healthy living

Projects may include sidewalk improvements, planters, benches, street lighting, pedestrian crossings, transit bus shelters, traffic calming, bicycle amenities, kiosks, signage and other visual elements. This program will not fund costs related to buildings or their facades, personnel costs related to a Main Street manager, street paving, storm water management, or traffic signals.

Funding for these programs is designed to fund transportation-related projects that are over and above what is considered routine construction and maintenance. Projects must fall into one or more of the twelve eligible categories and must be located in Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean or Potter County. Within these categories, projects must also have a relationship to the surface transportation system.

Any government agency, school district or non-profit organization interested in receiving information regarding the Transportation Enhancements Program should contact Tom Buck, Transportation Planning Coordinator at tbuck@ncentral.com or call at (814) 773-3162 for program guide and application information.

Please visit North Central’s web site for more information on the Transportation Planning Program. Applications are due by December 22, 2010.

Created in 1998, American Hiking Society’s National Trails Fund is the only privately supported national grants program providing funding to grassroots organizations working toward establishing, protecting and maintaining foot trails in America.

Many of our favorite trails need major repairs due to an enormous backlog of badly needed maintenance. National Trails Fund grants help give local organizations the resources they need to secure access, volunteers, tools, and materials to protect America’s cherished hiking trails.

The application process for 2011 is now open! Click here to download the forms. Application deadline is December 15, 2010.

Note that all National Trails Fund applicants are required to be members of the Alliance of Hiking Organizations.

What is the National Trails Fund?

American Hiking Society’s National Trails Fund is the only privately funded, national grants program dedicated solely to building and protecting hiking trails. Now in its eighth year, the fund has awarded nearly $487,000 to 157 grassroots organizations all over the nation working to establish, protect and maintain foot trails in America. Awards range from $500 to $5,000 per project.

What types of projects will be considered for the 2011 grants?

• Those that have hikers as the primary constituency, though projects on multi-use trails are eligible.
• Those that secure trail lands, including acquisition of trails and trail corridors and the costs associated with acquiring conservation easements.
• Projects that will result in visible and substantial ease of access, improved hiker safety and/or avoidance of environmental damage. Higher preference is often given to projects with volunteer labor.
• Projects that promote constituency building surrounding specific trail projects – including volunteer recruitment and support.

The North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission (NCPRPDC) received $150,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to implement recommendations from the recently completed North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan.

NCPRPDC, in cooperation with the counties of Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter, developed the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan. The plan was completed in June 2010, and was adopted by the north central counties by October 2010. The goal of the plan is to develop a network of trails and natural area corridors linking municipalities, parks, and important historic and cultural places.

In additional to the DCNR funds, NCPRPDC is pursuing funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as well as the Headwaters RC&D Council also are committing funds to this project.

The success of the North Central Greenways plans hinges on timely implementation of the plan’s recommendations. The monies provided by this block grant and project partners will allow for quick successes and rapid achievements of the regional priorities and potential demonstration projects.

NCPRPDC will use these funds to develop a mini-grant program to provide monies to trail groups and conservation organizations for trails, easements, and feasibility studies for projects identified in the North Central Pennsylvania Greenways Plan.

DCNR is the primary source of state support for Pennsylvania recreation, parks, and conservation initiatives. Grant funding from the DCNR assists hundreds of communities and organizations across Pennsylvania to plan, acquire, and develop recreation and park facilities, create trails, and conserve open space.

If you are interested in the development of the Knox-Kane Rail Corridor into a recreational trail, mark your calendar and plan to attend one of the public workshops. Trail planning consultants will provide a brief background of the project and a summary of the feasibility process. Your thoughts and ideas are important, needed, and welcomed. This is the first series of public workshops for the feasibility study.

The public workshops will be held at following dates and locations:

October 26, 2010 – Marienville Area Civic Association, MACA Drive, Marienville
October 27, 2010 – Kane Community Center, 46 Fraley Street, Kane
October 28, 2010 – Clarion Holiday Inn, 45 Holiday Inn Rd, Clarion

All workshops will begin with an open house from 6:00 – 6:30, with a presentation at 6:30 followed by public discussion.

For more information on the Knox-Kane Rail Corridor Feasibility Study, or to leave a comment, check out the project website by clicking here.

UPDATE:

The public workshops for the Knox Kane Rail Corridor Trail Feasibility Study were held as as scheduled, and were very well attended. Click here for meeting minutes and public comments received.