On January 26, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it awarded the Borough of Jim Thorpe a $200,000 Growing Greener Grant for design work on the Silk Mill Run Creek restoration project in Carbon County.

The nearly two-mile creek is a Class A brown trout cold-water fishery popular for outdoor activities in the Pocono Mountains that runs on the outskirts of the borough and feeds into the Lehigh River.

“This restoration project will have significant environmental impact to the stream’s water quality, health and aquatic habitat, not to mention improving outdoor experiences for sportsmen and women,” said Shane Kleiner, watershed manager and grants coordinator for DEP’s Northeast Regional Office in Wilkes-Barre. “Having funding available through Growing Greener enables the project partners to begin the work needed to restore the creek to its natural habitat.”

The borough will partner with Wildlands Conservancy, a non-profit that works to preserve thousands of acres of land and waterways in the Poconos, to design the restoration project. 

Some of the work that is planned includes: demolition and removal of at least five dams, streambank restoration and improving wildlife habitat by restoring wetlands nearby. The dams present a significant danger to aquatic life as they prevent fish passage to approximately half of the stream, obstructing native trout from swimming upstream in headwater habitat where water temperatures would be cooler in the warm summer months.

They also trap hundreds of tons of nutrients and sediment in the creek that could be released in the water should the dams breach.

DEP’s Growing Greener Grant Program provides funding for environmental projects that work to improve the natural beauty of the commonwealth. The program remains the largest single investment of state funds in Pennsylvania's history to address critical environmental concerns of the 21st century.

Upcoming Grant Opportunities

-- January 28:  PA Lake Management Society Project Mini-Grants

-- January 31:  Dept. Of Agriculture REAP Farm Conservation Tax Credits

-- January 31:  Turkey Hill Partnership/NRCS Farm Conservation Grants

-- Commonwealth Financing Authority Act 13 Drilling Impact Fee Funded Grants Typically Open February 1

-- February 1: Foundation For PA Watersheds Grants

-- February 14: Applications Now Being Accepted For 2022 Schuylkill River Restoration Fund; Land Transaction Assistance Grants

-- February 18: Lancaster Clean Water Partners Grant Deadline Reminder

-- March 4: Coldwater Heritage Partnership Conservation Grants

-- April 6: DCNR Community Conservation Partnership Grants

-- April 6: DCNR Riparian Forest Buffer Grants

-- April 13: NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Grants

-- April 15:  Fish & Boat Commission Lancaster, York Habitat Grants

-- WeConservePA: Conservation Easement Transaction Assistance Grants Now Available

-- August 12--  Foundation For PA Watersheds Grants

Visit the PA Environment Digest Grants & Awards webpage for more environmental and energy grant opportunities.

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Announces More Than $1.7 Million In Growing Greener Grants To Fund Local Water Clean Up Projects In Northwest PA

-- PA Resources Council, Partners Receive Growing Greener Grant For Delaware County Stormwater Management Project

-- DEP Announces $245,000 Growing Greener Grant For Kinney Run Watershed Improvements, Columbia County

-- DEP Announces $3.5 Million In Watershed Restoration Project Funding For Southeast PA

-- Witnesses Unanimously Support Allocating American Rescue Plan Funding For On-Farm Conservation Projects At House Committee Meeting; Rep. Metcalfe Calls It ‘Welfare’

-- PA State Government Has Refused To Pay Stormwater Management Fees To Local Authorities Designed To Meet Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Obligations

Related Articles:

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation Calls For Greater Investments To Reduce Pollution As Number Of Impaired Streams Increases In PA

-- Two Bipartisan Bills Just Sitting In Senate Waiting To Address Record Number Of Water Quality Impaired Streams Reported In 2022  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2022 Water Quality Report Shows 27,886 Miles Of Streams With Impaired Water Quality In PA (33%) - An Increase From 25,468 In 2020 

[Posted: January 26, 2022]

1/31/2022