The Delaware & Lehigh Trail—a 165-mile rail-trail through eastern Pennsylvania—generates an annual economic impact of more than $19 million in the communities it passes through, according to new findings published by the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy.

The seventh in a series of RTC reports to chart the economic impact rail-trails bring to local communities, the user survey found that of the $19 million, $16.3 million has been injected directly into the local region. Such studies have been conducted since 2006 by the RTC.

The D&L Trail is the backbone of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, a five county region of Pennsylvania that traverses the historic Delaware and Lehigh Canals that was designated a National Heritage Area by Congress in 1988.

The area is managed by the nonprofit DLNHC organization, a joint effort of private groups, citizens, county and municipal governments, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the federal government.

(Reprinted from DCNR’s April 3 Resource newsletter.)

4/8/2013