The recent torrential rains did not prevent dozens of local and state politicians, representatives of state agencies, and members of the press from attending the Lehigh Valley Greenways Initiative (LVGI) press conference on August 13.

During the conference, which was held at the Silver Creek Country Club in Hellertown, D&L Resource Conservation Specialist Sherry Acevedo announced the recipients of $230,000 in state-funded mini-grants. The grants are intended to aid conservation, restoration, and education projects through Lehigh and Northampton counties.

Mini-grant recipients for 2009 are:

• Bethlehem: $33,000 to support an urban forestry program.

• Easton: $16,000 to support an urban forestry program and $5,000 to initiate environmental advisory council education and outreach activities.

• Plainfield Township: $27,700 to revise and adopt land use ordinances, complete an open space plan, and conduct education and outreach through the environmental advisory council and $20,000 to complete the stabilization, resurfacing and enhancements to the township rail trail.

• Lehigh Valley Planning Commission: $20,000 to coordinate local planning activities for consistent zoning along the Kittatinny Ridge greenway.

• Wildlands Conservancy: $12,000 to facilitate two five-day Lehigh Valley adventure camps and $10,000 to provide a Nature Nearby program to urban youth in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton.

• Lehigh County Conservation District: $5,000 to coordinate the 2009 Lehigh Valley Watershed Conference and $40,000 to complete early implementation projects of the Saucon Creek watershed plan.

• Washington Township, Lehigh County: $40,000 to surface and enhance a half-mile of the Slate Heritage Trail.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients! Since the D&L began administering LVGI grants, we have provided over $1.3 million for local initiatives.  Click here for a timeline of LVGI’s many achievements.

Last week Secretary Michael DiBerardinis, head of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), visited the Lehigh Valley for a two-day tour and the presentation of several large grants. The DCNR is charged with maintaining and preserving the commonwealth’s state parks and forest land, providing information on the state’s ecological and geologic resources, and establishing community conservation partnerships to benefit rivers, trails, greenways, local parks and recreation, regional heritage parks, open space and natural areas.

On Thursday, Secretary DiBerardinis toured Northampton County sites and presented recreation and conservation grants totaling $282,600. Palmer Township received $200,000 to improve the Bushkill Creek bike and walking path, which is an integral part of the Lehigh Valley’s extensive greenway network stretching from the Delaware River to the Appalachian Trail at Lehigh Gap. In addition, the Nature Conservancy received $82,600 to protect two parcels of land in Upper Mount Bethel Township.

The next day Secretary DiBerardinis visited sections of the D&L Trail in Lehigh County and attended a grant announcement and trail dedication at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. The Center’s Executive Director Dan Kunkle accepted a check for $200,000 to improve interpretive signage, support environmental education, and plan for a renovated visitor and education center.

After the check presentation, a ribbon cutting ceremony marked the opening of the overhauled trail section and trailhead at Lehigh Gap.  Although the section is relatively short, it completes a portion of finished D&L Trail running approximately 8 miles from Slatington and Walnutport to Bowmanstown.  The event brought out dozens of supporters, state and local officials, and members of the press.

D&L Conservation Resource Specialist Sherry Acevedo organized both days of events and served as indefatigable tour guide. We thank Sherry, Secretary DiBerardinis, and all of the supporters who attended the events for their commitment to conserving the natural resources of the Lehigh Valley.

On Tuesday, Sherry Acevedo, Resource Conservation Specialist for the D&L, announced that the Lehigh Valley Greenways Initiative (LVGI) would award approximately one dozen state conservation mini-grants to local municipalities and organizations. The money comes from a $300,000 Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Community Conservation Partnerships Program grant, intended to promote recreation and conservation activities.

[Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham]

Acevedo chose the Slate Heritage Trail, which links to the D&L Trail in Slatington, as the site to make the announcement, in part because Washington Township will receive the largest grant: $40,000 to complete surfacing and other improvements to the 3.3-mile rail-trail. Also high on the list were the City of Easton, which will receive $35,000 for work in the Sullivan Park wetlands, and the City of Bethlehem, which will apply its $33,000 grant towards an urban forestry program.

[Northampton County Executive John Stoffa]

LVGI is also promoting smaller projects with a grant of $2,500 to Tatamy for improvements to the borough’s rail-trail and $7,500 to the Northampton County Conservation District to develop a Cooperative Weed Management Area Plan for the Martins Jacoby Watershed.

The D&L Trail Tenders received a $5,000 grant for their native plant restoration project on Sand Island, and the D&L received $32,000 to continue its conservation and preservation assistance programs.

Other grant recipients included:

-City of Bethlehem Wastewater Treatment Plant ($20,000) for work on the Saucon Creek
-City of Easton ($33,000) to support an urban forestry program
-Pennsylvania Environmental Council ($13,850) for training Environmental Advisory Councils in GIS and natural resource conservation
-South Whitehall Township ($9,750) to conduct a feasibility study for a linkage to the Jordan Greenway

This grant announcement, which included both the Lehigh and Northmapton County Executives and representatives from DCNR, was a large event that earned quite a bit of press coverage. WFMZ 69 News, PennLive, and a number of local newspapers reported on LVGI’s work to foster greenway conservation and recreation activities in the Lehigh Valley.