The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources this week announced the award of a $3.8 million grant to the Delaware Highlands Conservancy to help protect the Milford Experimental Forest property, a 1,108-acre forested track in Pike County near the Grey Towers National Historic Site.

The Milford Experimental Forest property has a 2-mile border with Delaware State Forest, 2/3 of a mile border with Forest Service property and is within feet of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Sure Currier, executive director of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, said conserving the Milford Experimental Forest property has been a top priority for her organization.

"The population of Pike County is expected to triple in the next 25 years, and developers are looking over every large parcel of land, making the timing of protection of important parcels critical," Currier said. "This land has high conservation value for its forest cover, biodiversity and as a key birthplace for scientific forestry and the ideas of the conservation movement."

Grey Towers is operated by the USDA Forest Service and draws 25,000 visitors annually for house and garden tours, conference facilities, environmental education programs and concerts and other recreational activities such as short hiking trails.

"Grey Towers has played such a vital role in the histories of Pennsylvania and the Forest Service that it is especially fitting that we have collaborated on a project that we can both be proud of, and will help our conservation futures as well," Grey Towers Director Richard Patterson said.

For more information, visit the Delaware Highlands Conservancy and Grey Towers National Historic Site websites.

NewsClip: Agency Awards Monroe Area Grants Toward Open Space

DCNR Recreation, Land Conservation Grants in Monroe County

9/8/2006