130 Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program: Fiscal Year 1997-1998; grant application announcement

DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program: Fiscal Year 1997-1998; Grant Application Announcement

[28 Pa.B. 394]

   The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Department) announces that applications are now being accepted for grants to be funded from the 1998-1999 fiscal year Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program. Funding is subject to an appropriation being made available to the Department for the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program in the upcoming 1997-1998 fiscal year budget. The deadline for submission of applications is Friday, April 10, 1998. Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. in the Harrisburg Central Office of the Department's Bureau of Recreation and Conservation. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered for funding. Fax submissions are not acceptable.

   It is the intent of the program to create a system of State Heritage Parks that will preserve and interpret the significant contributions that certain regions of this Commonwealth have made to the industrial heritage of the State and nation. The historic, cultural, natural, scenic and recreational resources within a Heritage Park area are inventoried, preserved, enhanced and promoted as a strategy to enhance regional economic development through the attraction of tourists, creation of new jobs, stimulation of small business growth and the promotion of public and private investment opportunities. There are currently eight designated State Heritage Parks including the Allegheny Ridge State Heritage Park, the Delaware and Lehigh Canal Heritage Park Corridor, the Lackawanna Heritage Valley, the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, the National Road Heritage Park, the Schuylkill Heritage Corridor, the Oil Heritage Region and the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area. A management action plan for the Endless Mountains Heritage Area is in its final stages of completion. Efforts are underway to determine the feasibility of establishing a Lumber Region Heritage Park in the Northcentral and Northwestern part of the State and a Lower Susquehanna Heritage Region in Lancaster and York counties.

   Designated State Heritage Parks are eligible to apply for grants to undertake heritage park management activities, special purpose studies and implementation projects. Other regions wishing to participate in the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program may apply for feasibility study grants if they meet the following criteria:

   --Must have a strong industrial theme based on one or more of the following industries--coal, oil, iron and steel, lumber, textile, transportation, machine and foundry and agriculture.

   --Must be multicounty in size.

   --Must have natural, cultural, historic, recreational and scenic resources of State or national significance.

   --Have a broad-based public and private partnership and regional coalition supporting the project.

   --Must demonstrate a local commitment and leadership capacity to undertake the initiative.

Program Manual/Application Forms

   The Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program Manual provides more specific information on funding levels, program requirements and the application process for this round of funding. The program manual and application forms are available from the Department. Since each project type has a specific set of application forms and instructions, specify the type of project when requesting application forms. The Program Manual, application forms and additional information about the program can be obtained from the Central Office of the Department's Bureau of Recreation and Conservation in Harrisburg or from one of the Department's Heritage Parks District Supervisors:

   Tim Keptner, Chief, Heritage Parks Division, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 6th Floor Rachel Carson State Office Building, P. O. Box 8475, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8475, [phone];

   Allen Sachse, Supervisor, Eastern District--Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Room 201, Samters Building, 101 Penn Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503-2025, [phone]; and

   Alan Chace, Supervisor, Western District--Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 5th Floor Forum Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, [phone].

   Persons with a disability who wish to submit an application for Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program funding and require assistance with the application should contact Darrel J. Siesholtz at [phone] to discuss how the Department may best accommodate their needs. TTY or TDD users call 1 [phone].

JOHN C. OLIVER,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 98-130. Filed for public inspection January 23, 1998, 9:00 a.m.]