Pa. grant funds available for outdoor recreation for trails, disc golf
, 2022-10-12 07:49:02,
When the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded a record $90 million in grants in September to 330 projects across the commonwealth, you may have thought of another project that should also be funded.
If so, you’re in luck.
The agency created an unprecedented additional 2022 fall grant round, but know the deadline is soon approaching on Oct. 27.
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“Pretty much everybody that’s normally eligible for our grant program is eligible for the supplemental round,” Tom Ford, director of the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, said in a telephone interview. That includes counties, municipalities, municipal entities and non-profits. “We’re accepting all project types. So trails, land conservation, community parks, all the things that we typically, basically accept and consider.”
Approximately $38 million is available for the DCNR Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2) grants to support outdoor recreation and conservation projects and has funded projects in every Pennsylvania county. About $25 million of that total comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The minimum size project to submit is $50,000 and a maximum of $5 million.
“Our bread and butter has always been community parks, trails and land conservation. And we certainly are going to continue to invest in those types of projects. We’ve been working hard to tweak our Small Community Program and small communities are defined as communities across the commonwealth with populations of 5,000 or less,” he said.
In this supplemental round, the local grant match has been reduced to 20% from 50%. “That’s something special in this fall grant round. It’s only possible because of the source of funding we are using.”
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The demand for parks has been on the rise. “Over the course of the last several years, especially when the pandemic was at its height, the importance of close-to-home recreational opportunities has been unparalleled in the history of the Commonwealth, I would bet. And if we enforce the fact that local park resources, trails, access to outdoor recreation, is critical. It’s not just a nice thing to do, it’s critical, it’s imperative and people need it. The $90 million investment that we were able to make in…
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