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Schuylkill River Heritage Area, Natural Lands Trust Grants Awarded
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Seven area tourism and conservation projects have received funds in a second round of mini-grants issued by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area together with Natural Lands Trust.
The grants, totaling more than $45,000, are intended to promote natural resource conservation and nature-based tourism within the Schuylkill Highlands. Included among the seven projects funded are a walking tour brochure for Birdsboro, interpretive signs for historic Morlatton Village and an educators’ workshop on natural resources in the Big Woods.
The grants are part of the Schuylkill Highlands Mini-Grant Program, which was introduced with a first round of grants last year. Two additional rounds will be made available in 2011.
The program was developed through the Schuylkill Highlands Conservation Landscape Initiative, and funded by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the William Penn Foundation.
All projects supported by the grants serve to protect the natural and cultural resources of the region, and to help visitors and residents alike cultivate an appreciation for them.
The Schuylkill Highlands is an area encompassing parts of the Schuylkill River watershed and the Pennsylvania Highlands, both landscapes with nationally significant resources. It incorporates portions of Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lehigh, Montgomery, Lancaster and Lebanon counties.
The vision of the Schuylkill Highlands CLI is to preserve, restore and enhance the natural, historic, cultural and recreational resources while encouraging sustainable practices and compatible economic development to create healthy and vibrant communities in this landscape.
The awards given as part of the 2010 Fall Grant Program are:
-- $15,000 to Berks Redevelopment Authority to create a downtown revitalization plan for Birdsboro. The plan will include a study of how the Schuylkill River land and water trails can connect the downtown to recreation areas and natural resources.
-- $1,250 to the Birdsboro Community Center to develop and produce a self-guided walking tour brochure.
-- $9,000 to Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County to design and install interpretive signs that acquaint visitors to historic features at Old Morlatton Village, in Douglassville.
-- $10,000 to John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove to support Bird Town, a program that will guide municipalities in making decisions based on a culture of conservation that will benefit not only birds and ecological systems, but also people.
-- $1,500 to Hay Creek Valley Association to host an educators’ workshop that will focus on natural resources found in the Hopewell Big Woods, and create a Teacher’s Resource Trunk for grades K-3 based on subjects covered in the workshop.
-- $1,000 to the Pennsylvania Outdoor Lighting Council to create and distribute a public awareness brochure about of the consequences of light pollution in the Schuylkill Highlands.
-- $7,500 to Walk Bike Berks to complete both a Management Plan and a Stewardship Plan for Neversink Mountain.
Schuylkill Highlands CLI Director Carol DeWolf said the grants are “a great way to encourage the advancement of strategic project work in this globally significant regional area.”
Two more grant rounds are planned for spring and fall of 2011 to fund additional projects.
“We’re happy to hear about any potential projects of interest that align with our program goals,” DeWolf said.
For more information about the grants contact the Schuylkill River Heritage Area at 484-945-0200 or Natural Lands Trust at 610-353-5587.
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2/14/2011 |
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