Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum announced this year’s Interior Appropriations budget includes funding for a variety of recreation, historical and environmental projects in the state.

Funding has been approved for these projects:

· $2.326 million for Valley Forge National Historic Park for renovations at George Washington's headquarters;

· $2 million for Independence National Historic Park for landscaping and infrastructure;

· $1 million for Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset, Pennsylvania for construction;

· $2.3 million for the Pike County "History of Forestry" Forest Legacy project to allow the Delaware Highlands Conservancy to conserve over 2,500 acres of upland forest in Pike County;

· $800,000 for Rivers of Steel Heritage Area to conserve the industrial and cultural heritage of the steel industry in southwestern Pennsylvania;

· $750,000 for Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor to assist the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Commission in planning and implementing an integrated strategy for protecting and promoting cultural, historical, and natural resources in this 150-mile long region;

· $700,000 for the Pocono Environmental Education Center for cabin replacements at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area;

· $500,000 for the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority to implement projects that develop the historic, cultural, natural and economic resources of the Lackawanna Valley through the preservation, education, and promotion of the area's anthracite coal mining heritage;

· $450,000 for Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area to conserve, interpret and develop the historical, cultural, natural and recreational resources related to the industrial and cultural heritage of the Schuylkill River Valley, extending from Schuylkill County south through Philadelphia County;

· $250,000 for Lafayette College for the McKelvy House renovation;

· $200,000 for Oil Heritage Region to unite and revitalize the Northwest region of Pennsylvania as the birthplace of the oil industry through the development, preservation, and promotion of the region's cultural, region's cultural, recreational, historic and natural resources; and

· $150,000 for the Historic Bethlehem Partnership for the 1762 Waterworks repair.

8/12/2005