1638 Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program: Fiscal Year 1996-1997; grant application announcement

DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program:  Fiscal Year 1996-1997; Grant Application Announcement

[26 Pa.B. 4659]

   The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) announces that applications are now being accepted for grants from the 1996-1997 fiscal year Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program. The deadline for submission of applications is December 13, 1996. Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. in the Harrisburg Central Office of DCNR's Bureau of Recreation and Conservation. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered for funding. FAX submissions are not acceptable.

   This eighth year of the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program is being implemented with an appropriation approved in the Commonwealth's 1996-1997 budget (Act 1A of 1996). 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 the 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. Efforts are underway to determine the feasibility of establishing a Lumber Region Heritage Park in the Northcentral and Northwestern part of the State and to develop a management action plan for the Endless Mountains Heritage Area.

   Designated State Heritage Parks are eligible to apply for grants to undertake heritage park management activities, special purpose studies and implementation projects. The Endless Mountains Heritage Area is eligible to apply for early implementation project grants in this grant round. 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 DCNR. Since each project type has a specific set of application forms and instructions, please specify the type of project you're interested in when requesting application forms. The Program Manual, application forms and additional information about the program can be obtained from the Central Office of DCNR's Bureau of Recreation and Conservation in Harrisburg or from one of DCNR'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, Room 555 Forum Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, [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];

   Alan Chace, Supervisor, Western District--Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Room 576 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. 96-1638. Filed for public inspection September 27, 1996, 9:00 a.m.]