The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Tuesday announced it is seeking grant applicants for its Canoe Access Development Fund, which supports projects that will improve canoe and kayak access to the region’s waterways.  The deadline for applications is November 16.

WPC’s Canoe Access Development Fund seeks to make the region’s rivers and streams more accessible for outdoor recreation by providing grants to watershed organizations or other community groups to develop access sites for canoers and kayakers.

Currently, 56 CADF-supported projects are completed and open to the public.

“The Canoe Access Development Fund has been instrumental in our organization’s shift from a project-based institution to an association of that supports recreation enthusiasts,” said Annie Quinn, executive director of the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association in Scottdale, Westmoreland County.  “The two access ramps that we built using CADF funds have allowed us to introduce Jacobs Creek to hundreds of individuals.”

New access sites proposed for grant funding should be located along a stream or river featured in “Canoeing Guide to Western Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia,” a similar guidebook or resource, or be recognized as a paddling waterway in Western Pennsylvania.

Projects in these counties would be eligible-- Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Somerset, Venango, Warren, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Qualified grant recipients will receive up to $4,000 per site for the construction and enhancement of canoe and kayak access locations.

Grant funding could be used in multiple ways, including stabilizing access areas to rivers or streams, adding nearby parking areas or purchasing riverside access. The CADF was founded in 2008 by private WPC donors and outdoor enthusiasts Roy Weil and Mary Shaw.

Projects funded by this program can be found on an interactive map.

For more information and an online application, visit the WPC’s Canoe Access Development Fund webpage. Grant recipients will be notified by December 15.

Questions should be directed to Eli Long at WPC’s Watershed Conservation office by sending email to: elong@paconserve.org or calling 724-471-7202, ext. 5105.

More information is available on programs, initiatives and special events at the Western PA Conservancy website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Conservancy, Like them on Facebook, Follow them on Twitter, add them to your Circle on Google+, join them on Instagram, visit the Conservancy’s YouTube Channel or add them to your network on Linkedin.  Click Here to support their work.

[Posted: Oct. 16, 2018]

10/22/2018