Growing Greener Coalition

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A coalition of environmental, conservation, and outdoor recreation organizations in PA.

Hilary Hirtle

Restoring the Mahoney Creek Watershed

Mahoney Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River that winds through Northumberland and Schuylkill Counties. With coal mining continuing since the 19th century within the region, the Mahoney Creek watershed has been heavily affected by acid mine drainage. According to the US EPA, acid mine drainage (AMD) mainly comes from abandoned coals mines and is caused when water flows over or through sulfur-bearing materials forming solutions of net acidity.

As a whole, the US EPA notes that AMD degrades more 4,500 stream miles within the mid-Atlantic region, resulting in loss of aquatic wildlife, and restricted use for recreation and public drinking water.

A $165,434 grant from the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener) is enabling the Mahanoy Creek Watershed to restore Mahoney Creek through the design of the Packer 5 Mine Drainage Treatment Project. This project will begin to address the effects of the acid mine drainage affecting Mahoney Creek and lead to restoring better water quality within the region.

Make PA a Leader with ARP

Open Letter to
Members of the General Assembly and Governor Wolf

June 14, 2021

Across America, state legislatures are choosing to invest American Rescue Plan dollars in the green infrastructure that secures and improves the economic, environmental, and public health and safety of their communities. The Pennsylvania General Assembly should be a leader too by reinvesting at least $500 million (7%) of the state’s ARP money in green infrastructure. Actions of other states include a broad range of green infrastructure spending:

  • Florida will invest $300 million in land and easement acquisitions to conserve natural and working lands and $500 million to address flooding and sea-level rise. Another $59 million will be spent to restore the Everglades and $25 million to restore water quality from springs. This is all in addition to another $658 million on other water-related infrastructure. An equivalent investment level in Pennsylvania would be $900 million (adjusting Florida’s spending proportionately downward to account for PA’s smaller population).
  • New Hampshire will invest $22.6 million in state park infrastructure. This would be $205.5 million if proportioned to PA’s larger population size. (This is in addition to ($50 million—$467 million PA-adjusted—for water investments.)
  • Among Indiana’s investments are $25 million ($47 million in PA-adjusted terms) for conservation land acquisition and another $60 million ($113 million, PA-adjusted) for trails.

Pennsylvania lawmakers have the enthusiastic support of Pennsylvania voters—Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike—to invest in green infrastructure. Polling from last fall[1] found that 87% of likely voters agree that even with [what was then] a tight budget, we should still find the money to invest in protecting Pennsylvania’s land, water and wildlife; that protecting water quality and land in Pennsylvania is critical to keeping the state’s economy strong (90 percent agree); and that it is more important than ever to have parks, preserves, and other public spaces where we can safely enjoy the outdoors (91 percent agree).

The American Rescue Plan provides a unique opportunity to boost investments in projects that Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support, can be implemented now, and will continue to deliver value for decades to come. From nature-based solutions that prevent flooding and stream degradation (for example, riparian forest buffers on farms and wetland restoration), to rehabilitation of the parks and trails that underpin a large part of the Commonwealth’s tourism and outdoor recreation economies, American Rescue Plan dollars can make a tremendous difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians.

Our various green infrastructure needs are immense but the economic payoff in addressing them is huge. American Rescue Plan dollars applied to green infrastructure would support myriad small businesses and good-paying jobs with them. Projects involve surveyors, appraisers, legal services, engineers, planners, drafters, environmental remediators, hydrologists, geologists, agricultural consultants, horticulturalists, architects, landscape architects, landscapers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, painters, roofing contractors, fencing installers, paving contractors, material delivery, sign makers, archaeologists, and arborists. Supplies and equipment are needed from nurseries, lumber yards, quarries, building material suppliers, hardware stores, equipment manufacturers, and equipment rental businesses.

Investing in Pennsylvania’s environment makes strong fiscal sense. It is well established that state environmental investments provide tremendous rates of return—whether the measure is job creation and economic activity, avoided costs (such as public health and flooding), net tax revenues, or the wellbeing of people and communities.[2]

For more information, please reach out to the people and organizations of the Growing Greener Coalition including but not limited to:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Shannon Gority, PA Executive Director
sgority@cbf.org

Ducks Unlimited
Nikki Ghorpade, Government Affairs Representative
nghorpade@ducks.org

Conservation Voters of PA
Joshua McNeil, Executive Director
joshua.mcneil@conservationpa.org

Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
John Dawes, Executive Director
rjdawes1@pennsylvaniawatersheds.org

Lancaster Farmland Trust
Jeffrey Swinehart, Chief Operating Officer
jswinehart@lancasterfarmlandtrust.org

Natural Lands
Oliver P. Bass, President
oliver.bass@natlands.org

PennFuture
Jacquelyn Bonomo, President & CEO
bonomo@pennfuture.org

Pennsylvania Environmental Council
John Walliser, Senior Vice President
jwalliser@pecpa.org

Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Marci Mowery, President
mmowery-ppff@pa.net

Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society
Tim Herd, CEO
herd@prps.org

Sierra Club PA Chapter
Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director
jen.quinn@sierraclub.org

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Tom Sexton, Northeast Regional Director
tom@railstotrails.org

The Conservation Fund
Kyle D. Shenk, Northeast Region Director
kshenk@conservationfund.org

The Nature Conservancy, PA/DE Chapter
Ronald L. Ramsey, Senior Policy Advisor
rramsey@tnc.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Derek Eberly, Pennsylvania Field Organizer
deberly@trcp.org

 The Trust for Public Land
Owen Franklin, PA State Director
owen.franklin@tpl.org

Trout Unlimited
Jennifer Orr-Greene, Eastern Policy Director
jen.orrgreene@tu.org

WeConservePA
Andrew M. Loza, Executive Director
aloza@weconservepa.org

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Cynthia Carrow, Vice President
ccarrow@paconserve.org

[1] TargetSmart survey of 1,332 likely PA voters conducted September 20-27, 2020; credibility interval of +/- 3.0%

[2] See the numerous studies documenting the benefits in the Economic Benefits section of https://conservationtools.org.

 

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A Plan to Rescue our People, Parks and Forests

Opinion-Editorial, June 9, 2021

by Tim Herd and Marci Mowery

As go our parks and public spaces, so goes our health and wellbeing.

Last year confirmed what many know—that parks and recreation is unquestionably essential. Through every phase of the pandemic, our community and state parks and forests provided much needed space for enhancing physical, mental and emotional health, while also providing places to connect with family and friends.

Meanwhile, park, forest and recreation providers worked tirelessly to keep individuals safe, delivering vital emergency services, distributing meals, offering recreational opportunities that promote physical and mental health, and keeping our parks safe, clean and ready to use.

And all this during the period when the same professionals were dealing with cutbacks, furloughs, lockdowns and working from home, while record numbers of people flocked to the parks and trails for mental and physical relief. In some counties in Pennsylvania, mobility to the local parks surged over 280 percent in the month of May alone! Our state parks saw more visitors than ever – nearly 47 million—an increase of greater than 26 percent over 2019.

It simply and strongly demonstrates that parks are indispensable to our personal, social and community health. And our economy.

The accompanying chart shows the increase of recreation equipment sales. Some businesses near parks and forests had record sales due to increased visitation.

Yet parks are also underappreciated when it comes to reinvesting in them for our own good. Research has shown that during times of financial stress, parks are the first of public services to be cut, and are among the last to recover. Meanwhile, decreased staff, increased usage, and a growing backlog of maintenance—state parks and forests need $1 billion for crucial access and safety needs—are taking their toll on these essential public spaces and services that support a thriving populace.

Fortunately, The American Rescue Plan provides direct aid to state and local governments for infrastructure investments; for offsetting revenue losses from COVID and responding to the public health emergency; and for critical capital projects directly enabling work, education, and health monitoring, among others.

Such a constructive investment is not only socially and environmentally sound; it also makes direct economic sense. The outdoor recreation economy in Pennsylvania generates $29.1 billion in economic activity, produces 251,000 direct jobs, and contributes $8.6 billion in wages and salaries, and $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue. (Outdoor Industry Association, 2017.)

However, as appropriate and timely as the Plan’s provisions are, they do not automatically flow to the owners and stewards of our public parks, trails and greenspaces. We strongly support any funding designated for recovery and reimbursement of COVID-related expenses to extend to the costs of repairing, renewing and operating our precious public assets, and to build better resilience against future distresses. We encourage our General Assembly to acknowledge the vital role these spaces play in our communities by investing ARP funding to benefit all Pennsylvanians.

An open, robust, and well-maintained system of parks, forests and public spaces strengthens us all.

Tim Herd, CPRE, is the CEO of the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society, the principal statewide association providing professional development, leadership, advocacy and resources for those working and volunteering in the parks and recreation field.

Marci Mowery is the President of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, a charity dedicated to the stewardship of the Commonwealth’s state parks and forests through public engagement in volunteerism, education and recreation.

 

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$596,000 Awarded to Bradford County Watershed and Stream Corridor Rehabilitation Projects

Earlier this year, Bradford County was awarded $596,000 in grants funded from the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener program) for watershed and stream corridor rehabilitation efforts. The grant funding includes:

  • $100,000 for the Wysox Creek Watershed Association, Inc.’s Comprehensive Watershed Rehabilitation project in and around Rome Township and Borough. The project will stabilize headwater tributaries, reduce storm water runoff from municipal roads, create retention basins to decrease stormflow problems, and increase groundwater recharge in the Bear Creek watershed.
  • $171,000 for the Bradford County Conservation District‘s Satterlee Creek Stream Corridor Rehabilitation 2 project, which will stabilize stream and road corridors and reduce sediment and nutrients that enter Satterlee Creek.
  • $325,000 for the Bradford County Watershed Initiative 2020, which will enable the county to complete up to 10 streambank stabilization projects and reduce approximately 1,000 tons of sediment, 1,000 pounds of phosphorus, and 2,500 pounds of nitrogen each year. The initiative will also host educational programs for municipal officials, contractors, and land owners.

Funding for these projects results in directly improving water quality for communities and open spaces throughout Bradford County and beyond.

ARP for Green Infrastructure: Huge Support From All Parties

Open Letter to
Members of the General Assembly and Governor Wolf

June 8, 2020

 

93% of Pennsylvanians agree—68% strongly—that “we have a moral obligation to take care of our environment.” Whether the focus is protecting waterways, wildlife and natural areas conservation, the importance of parks and open spaces, or preserving productive farms, an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians find these matters to be “very important.”

Support crosses party lines; for example, “protecting PA’s drinking water” is found to be very important by 75% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 92% of Democrats.

90% of likely voters agree that “protecting water quality and land in Pennsylvania is critical to keeping the state’s economy strong, even in a time of COVID”—67% feeling strongly about this.

COVID has triggered a boom in outdoor recreation that is clearly continuing beyond the peak of the crisis. This is borne out in polling that finds 91% of the public agreeing—60% strongly—that “it is more important than ever in a time of COVID to have parks, preserves, and other public spaces where we can safely enjoy the outdoors.”

Pennsylvanians care deeply about our natural resources. The American Rescue Plan provides a unique opportunity to boost investments in projects that Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support, can be implemented now, and will continue to deliver value for decades to come. From nature-based solutions that prevent flooding and stream degradation (for example, riparian forest buffers on farms and wetland restoration), to rehabilitation of the parks and trails that underpin a large part of the Commonwealth’s tourism and outdoor recreation economies, American Rescue Plan dollars can make a huge difference.

The Growing Greener Coalition urges the General Assembly and Governor to direct at least $500 million (7%) of state government’s share of Rescue money to these investments.

[1] TargetSmart survey of 1,332 likely PA voters conducted September 20-27, 2020; credibility interval of +/- 3.0%

For more information, please reach out to the people and organizations of the Coalition including but not limited to:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Shannon Gority, PA Executive Director
sgority@cbf.org

Ducks Unlimited
Nikki Ghorpade, Government Affairs Representative
nghorpade@ducks.org

Conservation Voters of PA
Joshua McNeil, Executive Director
joshua.mcneil@conservationpa.org

Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
John Dawes, Executive Director
rjdawes1@pennsylvaniawatersheds.org

Lancaster Farmland Trust
Jeffrey Swinehart, Chief Operating Officer
jswinehart@lancasterfarmlandtrust.org

Natural Lands
Oliver P. Bass, President
oliver.bass@natlands.org

PennFuture
Jacquelyn Bonomo, President & CEO
bonomo@pennfuture.org

Pennsylvania Environmental Council
John Walliser, Senior Vice President
jwalliser@pecpa.org

Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Marci Mowery, President
mmowery-ppff@pa.net

Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society
Tim Herd, CEO
herd@prps.org

Sierra Club PA Chapter
Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director
jen.quinn@sierraclub.org

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Tom Sexton, Northeast Regional Director
tom@railstotrails.org

The Conservation Fund
Kyle D. Shenk, Northeast Region Director
kshenk@conservationfund.org

The Nature Conservancy, PA/DE Chapter
Ronald L. Ramsey, Senior Policy Advisor
rramsey@tnc.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Derek Eberly, Pennsylvania Field Organizer
deberly@trcp.org

 The Trust for Public Land
Owen Franklin, PA State Director
owen.franklin@tpl.org

Trout Unlimited
Jennifer Orr-Greene, Eastern Policy Director
jen.orrgreene@tu.org

WeConservePA
Andrew M. Loza, Executive Director
aloza@weconservepa.org

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Cynthia Carrow, Vice President
ccarrow@paconserve.org

 

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Contact Your Legislators: Rescue Money for Local Projects

PA state government will receive $7 billion from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan. This presents a momentous opportunity for the Commonwealth to direct Rescue money to our huge and pressing green infrastructure needs.

Please call or email your state senator and representative this week, preferably TODAY, and urge them to use $500 million or more (7%) of American Rescue Plan funds for green infrastructure projects that will help communities now and for decades to come.

  1. Remind them of how past state investments in specific conservation, restoration, or and/or recreation projects are still benefiting your community.
  2. Also, explain to them that so much more can be done to help your community with a boost in state investment—whether your focus is ensuring water quality; preventing flood damage; restoring streams, wetlands, and other wildlife habitat; improving outdoor recreational opportunities, or other conservation-related efforts.

Pennsylvania’s needs are huge:

  • Billions of dollars in water investments are needed on a multitude of fronts to restore 25,468 miles of Pennsylvania waterways that are unsafe for drinking, swimming, and fishing.
  • Lack of investment in addressing stormwater management and flood prevention leave many Pennsylvanians highly vulnerable to loss of property, health, and life.
  • Farmers need help to implement conservation practices like forested stream buffers to keep soil and nutrients on the land instead of running into the water.
  • Untreated abandoned mine drainage, desolate abandoned mined lands, and uncapped oil and gas wells harm our water and drag down local economies.
  • Our State Parks and Forests require nearly $1 billion in restoration and repair work.
  • Local parks and community open spaces continue to see a surge (often doubling) in public usage and resulting wear-and-tear in this new era of increased interest in outdoor recreation.

Thank you for acting now for a better tomorrow.

Andy Loza
Chair, Growing Greener Coalition
Executive Director, WeConservePA

Grant Awarded Through the Environmental Stewardship Fund Set to Improve Idlewood Environmental Station, Neshaminy Creek

Neshaminy High School, a public high school located in Middletown Township, Bucks County, hosts the Idlewood Environmental Station, a 125-acre tract of forestland found between the high school and the adjacent Neshaminy Creek.

According to Bucks County Education, Idlewood Environmental Station has been in use since the 1970’s as a classroom extension for science and physical education classes. It is also utilized by the community, who take to the station’s trails for outdoor recreation opportunities.

A $100,339 grant recently received by the Neshaminy School District from the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener) will allow Idlewood Station to be removed of hazardous and dead timber and benefit from new native tree and shrub plantings. The funding will also be used to improve Idlewood Environmental Station’s trails, stabilizing soil, reducing runoff, and overall improving the water quality of Neshaminy Creek.

A part of the greater Delaware River Watershed, the 40.7-miles long Neshaminy Creek runs through the entirety of Bucks County before eventually joining the Delaware River.

23 Pennsylvania Water Conservation Groups Support Significant Clean Water Investments from American Rescue Plan Funding

Dear Governor Wolf and Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly:

We, the undersigned groups of the conservation, business, environmental protection, and faith communities, are writing today to ask your support for increasing clean water funding—specifically, dedicated funding through a program such as the creation of a Clean Streams Fund as well as a reinvigorated Growing Greener III program.

Pennsylvania is faced with a unique opportunity. The recent passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides the Commonwealth with $7 billion in federal funds. We’re advocating that a portion of this money—at least $500 million1—should be invested in our water resources which in turn supports jobs, a vibrant recreation economy, and supplies our drinking water. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership found that outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania contributes to over 390,000 jobs with a total value of $26.9 billion, including over $7 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue.

Poll after poll demonstrates wide, bipartisan support for increases in state investments for clean water. Most recently, a poll commissioned by Conservation Voters of PA and the Growing Greener Coalition in the fall of 2020 showed that nearly 90 percent of voters support funding for Pennsylvania’s land, water and wildlife, even during the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We ask all members of the General Assembly and Governor Wolf to stand with voters and protect our waterways by providing dedicated funding to watershed improvement and best management practice implementation and reinvigorating Growing Greener III.

Growing Greener III

These funds provide critical support to community-driven work that improves and protects our cities and towns. Since 1999, Growing Greener has been a lifeline to conservation and clean water projects across the state. These investments bring lasting benefits to communities across Pennsylvania from clean water to open spaces to recreational pursuits for Pennsylvanians and tourists alike. Examples and success stories from these investments can be found on the Environmental Stewardship Fund’s website: https://esfund.info/.

Growing Greener was established with bipartisan support in the General Assembly as well as in public referenda and they continue to receive overwhelming public support today. In March, Senators John Gordner and Bob Mensch released a co-sponsor memo for support of a Growing Greener III program that would use $500 million from the American Recuse Plan funding to invest in our water resources and benefit our farmers, towns, and more.

Clean Stream Fund

Pennsylvania is blessed to be a water rich state with 86,000 miles of streams. However, around one-third of our streams are polluted. A dedicated fund devoted solely to cleaning up and protecting our waterways will support jobs and benefit Pennsylvania’s economy, towns, and farmers. In March, Senators Gene Yaw, Scott Martin, and Daniel Laughlin put forth a co-sponsor memo that would create the Clean Streams Fund using $250 million from the American Rescue Plan.

For years, our groups have called on increased investments for our water resources. Now is the time to act. We thank you for supporting healthy rivers and streams across the Commonwealth. Please contact Ezra Thrush at thrush@pennfuture.org with questions or for more information.

Respectfully submitted,

Jacquelyn Bonomo
President & CEO
PennFuture

Katie Blume
Political Director
Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania

Jessica Brittain
President
Action Together NEPA

Bobby Hughes
Executive Director
Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation

Kate Fritz
CEO
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

Anne McCarthy, OSB
Coordinator
Erie Benedictines for Peace

Elizabeth Brown
Director, Delaware River Watershed Program
Audubon Mid-Atlantic

Brook Lenker
Executive Director
FracTracker Alliance

Shannon Gority
Pennsylvania Executive Director
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Annette Marshall
Executive Director
Inner-City Neighborhood Art House

Reed Perry
Manager of External Affairs
Chesapeake Conservancy

Ted Evgeniadis
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association

Diane Rosencrance
Executive Director
Delaware Highlands Conservancy

Oliver Bass
President
Natural Lands

Michael T. Sellers, Esq.
President
Newtown Creek Coalition

Julie Slavet
Executive Director
Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership, Inc.

Pat Leary
President
Penns Valley Conservation Association

Jennifer Orr-Greene
Eastern Policy Director
Trout Unlimited

Rev. Sandra L. Strauss
Director of Advocacy & Ecumenical Outreach
Pennsylvania Council of Churches

George Hludzik
President
Western Pocono Trout Unlimited

Louise Troutman
Executive Director
Pocono Heritage Land Trust

Leigh Altadonna
President
Wyncote Audubon Society

Bill Reichert
President
Schuylkill Headwaters Association

 

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Funding Needed to Combat Flash Flooding from Fishing Creek

Photo credit: Brittney Hartzell

Fishing Creek’s headwaters are located on the edge of the Appalachian Plateau — approximately 2,200 feet above sea level. The creek flows down Columbia County’s mountainous northern State Game Lands #13 and then cuts through the forested county until it reaches Bloomsburg, where it joins the Susquehanna River. This steep drop in elevation causes the stream to have high energy flows during rain events, making Fishing Creek susceptible to unpredictable flooding, which has only gotten worse over the last couple of years.

Historically, many of the streams in Columbia County had a milldam, used to harness hydroelectric power. By 1840, Columbia County had 130 water-powered mills, but most of them were abandoned by the 1990s due to the use of fossil fuels for electricity. Abandoned milldams cause fine sediments to accumulate at the end of the dam, leading to a vertical build-up of “legacy sediments” that push the stream out of its floodplain and increase the risk of flooding. Benton and other towns along Fishing Creek have suffered the dire consequences of severe flooding every year, particularly in 2018 and the Christmas of 2020. When there are heavy rainstorms in Central Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Mountains, counties in the Susquehanna Lowlands have serious issues managing stormwater runoff and stream overflow.

Photo credit: Brittney Hartzell

Columbia County’s flooding issues have been heavily underfunded, in part because addressing the problem at its core involves identifying and removing abandoned milldams and their legacy sediments, both of which are very costly endeavors. The process requires conducting a land study to locate buried milldams, removing tons of legacy sediments, lowering the streambank, and determining where to best dispose of the material. Although getting rid of legacy sediments is expensive, the cost of undertaking these projects and reconnecting the stream to its floodplain is significantly lower than the cost of flood emergency response and property recovery.

Removing milldams from specific stream sections is not the only way to reduce flooding in the Fishing Creek Watershed. A watershed-level approach to Columbia County’s water problems is ideal. Starting restoration at the headwaters and working downstream would reduce stormwater runoff in the lowlands and minimize the risk of project failure due to unpredictable flooding. More importantly, a watershed-level approach would bring multiple other benefits to the region. Wetland restoration helps store immense amounts of water, while the reintroduction of native vegetation along streams stabilizes stream banks and reduces erosion. Preserving forested areas and local habitats is also beneficial as it frees up space for the stream when it needs it. Moreover, restoring the watershed would mitigate flooding and ensure clean water for Bloomsburg, which gets most of its drinking water from the Fishing Creek Watershed.

Communities along Fishing Creek are unpredictably flooded every year, endangering their safety, homes, and livelihoods. The costs of inaction are vast, and those who are forced to rebuild their homes every year or cannot afford to move outside of the floodplain are disproportionately affected. Funding projects that address flooding is imperative. Doing so today will be distinctly more economical than a couple of years down the road when the frequency of flooding is projected to increase.

Water & Green Infrastructure: A Good Fit for ARP

May 20, 2021

Re. Conservation Needs and Investments: A Good Fit for the American Rescue Plan

Dear Pennsylvania Senators, Representatives, and Governor Wolf:

I write on behalf of the 70 member organizations of WeConservePA (formerly the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association) and the more than one hundred thousand Pennsylvanians they count as members and supporters.

Pennsylvania’s waterways need help. Although spending parameters may not be fully understood, the American Rescue Plan can clearly play a major role in providing this assistance:

  • Billions of dollars in water investments are needed on a multitude of fronts to restore 19,000 miles of Pennsylvania waterways unsafe for drinking, swimming, and fishing.
  • Municipalities face huge costs regarding MS4; farmers badly need help with designing and implementing conservation practices like forested stream buffers to keep soil and nutrients on the land instead of running into the water.
  • Untreated AMD, desolate abandoned mined lands, and uncapped oil and gas wells harm our water and drag down local economies.
  • Lack of investment in addressing stormwater management and flood prevention leave many Pennsylvanians highly vulnerable to loss of property and life.

Funding these needs out of the American Rescue Plan is a great fit:

  • These are capital investments, not expenditures that have to be repeated (and supported out of the state general fund) after the federal money is gone.
  • Tens of millions of dollars in green infrastructure projects are shovel ready now.
  • Many more can be ready in short order if the money is made available.

The American Rescue Plan presents a tremendous opportunity to begin addressing the Commonwealth’s enormous backlog of green infrastructure needs. In addition to the water-centric needs, American Rescue Plan dollars might also be appropriate for addressing:

  • Our State Parks and Forests, which require nearly $1 billion in restoration and repair work.
  • Local parks and community open spaces that are seeing a surge (often doubling) in public usage and resulting wear-and-tear in this new era of increased interest in outdoor recreation.

American Rescue Plan dollars applied to green infrastructure would support myriad small businesses and good-paying jobs with them. Projects involve surveyors, appraisers, legal services, engineers, planners, drafters, environmental remediators, hydrologists, geologists, agricultural consultants, nurseries, architects, landscape architects, landscapers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, painters, roofing contractors, fencing installers, paving contractors, material delivery, sign makers, archaeologists, and arborists. Supplies and equipment are needed from nurseries, lumber yards, quarries, building material suppliers, hardware stores, equipment manufacturers, and equipment rental businesses.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Andrew M. Loza
Executive Director

cc: member organizations

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