PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Area parks, trails and forests are in demand in Pennsylvania as many people seek mental and physical health amid the pandemic. Now the state is awarding grant money to communities and nonprofits that want to take on recreation and conservation projects.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Community Conservation Partnerships Program is open to local governments and nonprofit organizations. Starting this year, applicants are asked to explain how their project implements sustainable and climate-resilient adaptations and/or mitigations.
"The project that incorporates that will get better points and score better than one that doesn't," said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. "It's pretty easy to combine recreation and conservation, it's pretty easy to put shade trees in a project that is mainly a recreation project and I think that is probably what we are going to see our applicants do."
The grants support planning, acquisition, and development of things like public parks, recreation areas, motorized and non-motorized trails, river conservation and access and open space conservation.
The application deadline is April 14.
More information on the criteria and how to contact a project advisor can be found at the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
"It’s best to get started now with a DCNR advisor," advised Dunn. "On the webpage, you can get in contact and really be put in touch with a professional to help, give you some advice, maybe combine you with some other applicant who is willing to help in the same area, help you find a partner."