Legislation

For Immediate Release:  Sept. 28, 2016

SEN. KILLION, PA GROWING GREENER COALITION ANNOUNCE INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO PROTECT WATER, LAND & OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

 

(HARRISBURG, PA) Sen. Tom Killion (R-Delaware) and the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition today announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation to create a Growing Greener III program and provide $315 million in annual investments to protect the state’s water, land and other natural resources.

“Our goal is to establish a Growing Greener III framework that the Governor and Legislature can embrace to renew this critical program and ensure its continued vitality long into the future,” said Killion. “This legislation represents the first step in the process – identifying the need and establishing the commitment to support these critical environmental and quality of life projects.”

Killion is joined by co-sponsors Sens. Richard Alloway (R-Adams), David Argall (R-Schuylkill), John Blake (D-Lackawanna), Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh), Thomas McGarrigle (R-Delaware), Chuck McIhinney (R-Bucks), John Gordner (R-Columbia), Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery), Judy Schwank (D-Berks), Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin), Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny) and John Yudichak (D-Carbon).

“We are grateful to Senator Killion and the bipartisan group of co-sponsors for championing a bipartisan Growing Greener III program and for recognizing the critical need to invest in keeping our water clean, protecting our open space and preserving our family farms,” said Andrew Heath, executive director of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition. “Investments in Growing Greener support our local economies and ensure that future generations continue to have access to clean water, green open space, locally grown food, and public parks, trails and other recreational opportunities.”

The Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition last week unveiled its blueprint for a Growing Greener III program. A copy of the plan, which was developed with input from a wide range of stakeholders can be downloaded at www.growinggreener3.com.

“More than 26,000 miles of Pennsylvania’s waterways are currently classified as impaired,” said John Dawes, executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. “We need to invest in a Growing Greener III program to help repair and restore our rivers, lakes and streams, which not only supply our drinking water, but are also popular sources of recreation and tourism for Pennsylvania residents and visitors alike.”

Established in 1999, the state’s Growing Greener program has funded hundreds of local parks and trail projects, conserved more than 50,000 acres of threatened open space, and restored hundreds of miles of streams and waterways. The program has also protected more than 78,000 acres of farmland, restored more than 1,600 acres of abandoned mine land, and helped reduce flooding and water pollution through 400 watershed protection projects and more than 100 drinking and wastewater treatment improvements.

“Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program has helped local communities all across the Commonwealth to protect important open spaces,” said Oliver Bass, vice president for Natural Lands Trust. “However, there is still work that needs to be done. Preserving land is proven to makes communities healthier, provides significant economic benefits, and is one of the most effective ways to keep water clean.”

Pennsylvania’s Constitution mandates that the Commonwealth conserve and maintain its natural resources. As article 1, section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution reads: “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all of the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

Since its inception, the state’s Growing Greener program has enjoyed widespread, bipartisan support. A 2015 Penn State poll found that 90.7 percent of Pennsylvanians surveyed would support increasing state funds to conserve and protect open space, clean water, natural areas, wildlife habitats, parks, historic sites, forests, and farms.

“Pennsylvanians value their parks and open spaces,” said Marci Mowery, president of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation. “Our public forest lands not only provide recreational opportunities like fishing, hunting, bird watching, and camping, but also provide forestry products, clean air, and clean water.”

Numerous studies have shown that Pennsylvania’s parks, farms, waterways, and open space generate significant economic and health benefits locally and statewide, and are critical to the strength of two of Pennsylvania’s leading industries – tourism and agriculture.

“Growing Greener funding is critical to preserving our family farms and ensuring access to locally grown, nutritious food,” said Jeff Swinehart, deputy director of Lancaster Farmland Trust. “Our farms contribute $75 billion in total economic impact annually and one in seven jobs is related to agriculture. We must invest in their preservation.”

The Growing Greener III plan proposed last week by the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition has so far been endorsed by more than 100 conservation, preservation and recreation organizations, as well as several businesses and local governments, representing hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians. For a full list visit www.growinggreener3.org.

 

Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition Thanks House for
Unanimously Passing Heritage Areas Bill

(HARRISBURG, PA) The Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition, the largest coalition of conservation, recreation and preservation organizations in the Commonwealth, today thanked House members for unanimously passing legislation (HB1605) that formally establishes a Heritage Area Program to identify, protect, enhance and promote the historic, recreational, natural, cultural and scenic resources of the Commonwealth.

“We are pleased that the House recognizes the important economic and social benefits of Pennsylvania’s Heritage Areas,” said Andrew Heath, executive director of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition. “This legislation is critical to the future of the Heritage Areas, and we look forward to its passage in the Senate in the upcoming weeks.”

Heath thanked Rep. Lee James (R-Venango/Butler) especially for his leadership in introducing the bill and his commitment to protecting Pennsylvania’s history and heritage.=

Heritage Areas are geographic regions or corridors that span two or more counties that contain historic, recreational, natural and scenic resources that collectively exemplify the heritage of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania’s 12 Heritage Areas are: Allegheny Ridge Heritage Area, Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Endless Mountains Heritage Region, Lackawanna Heritage Valley, Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, Lumber Heritage Region, National Road Heritage Corridor, Oil Region National Heritage Area, PA Route 6 Heritage Corridor, Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, Schuylkill River National & State Heritage Area, and Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area.

A recent study found that in 2014, tourists spent an estimated 7.5 million days/nights in Pennsylvania’s Heritage Areas, purchasing $2 billion worth of goods and services. This spending supported 25,708 jobs and generated $798 million in labor income and nearly $1.3 billion in value-added effects.

In addition, 70 percent of visitor spending and associated economic effects would be lost to these areas if heritage anchor attractions were not available, according to the study.

About the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition

The mission of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition is to enhance the health and economic well-being of communities across the Commonwealth by advocating for funding to conserve, protect and restore land, water and wildlife; to preserve farms and historic places, and to provide well-managed parks and recreational areas throughout the state. Established in 2008, the Coalition comprises local, regional and statewide conservation, recreation and preservation groups.  For more information, visit www.PaGrowingGreener.org.

June 18, 2014

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition and the twelve state-designated heritage areas, we want to thank you for passing the Heritage Areas Program legislation.

This legislation makes what was merely a concept within the DCNR into a full-fledged program, something the Heritage Areas managers appreciate greatly.

The PA Growing Greener Coalition teamed up with the heritage areas because we recognized the economic value they bring to the Commonwealth. With their emphasis on economic development, tourism and partnership collaboration, the heritage areas are an essential piece of the collective identity of the state.

What the legislation did not do was provide a dedicated source of funding for the program. Prior to last year when the General Assembly restored their line-item, the program had been zeroed out the previous five years.

With no dedicated line-item, the heritage areas must then compete in the DCNR Partnership Program with a very diverse group of organizations who are seeking funds for single projects such as land conservation, rails to trail projects, community parks and recreational projects, feasibility studies, along with a slew of other projects. While the DCNR has worked hard to fund the heritage areas through this grant vehicle, it severely limits the heritage areas’ ability to implement the broad spectrum of projects, programs and services they undertake in their very multi-faceted work plans which serve a large population of your constituents.

We have to change this. Just as you rightly restored the program last year, we are urging you to put $3 million in the line-item this year. That is our short-term fix. For the long-term, we need to find a dedicated source of revenue.

Lastly, please consider joining the more than three-dozen other House members who have written to Chairman Adolph calling for the $3 million line-item restoration. This is a challenging year and we need your help.

Once again, thank you for your support and thank you for your vote.

Sincerely,

Andrew Heath

For Immediate Release: June 3, 2014

Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition Urges Lawmakers to Include
Environment in Severance Tax Legislation

New Survey Shows Overwhelming Bi-Partisan Support for Increasing Funds to Protect Land, Water, Historic Sites

 (HARRISBURG, PA) The Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition, the largest coalition of conservation, recreation and preservation organizations in the Commonwealth, today urged state legislators to include funding for environmental programs and initiatives in any legislation that would enact a severance tax on natural gas extraction in Pennsylvania.

“Any severance tax must dedicate funds toward the protection of our land, air and water,” said Andrew Heath, executive director of the Coalition. “The Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition urges lawmakers to remember the critical need for funding to protect our farms and open spaces, restore our waterways, enhance our parks and trails, conserve our wildlife habitat, and preserve our historic sites and heritage areas.”

The Coalition pointed to a new survey that found overwhelming public support for continuing existing dedicated state funding for conservation and for increasing state funding to protect land, water and historic sites.

Overall, the survey found that more than 97.4 percent of Pennsylvanians surveyed think that state funds dedicated to protecting rivers and streams; conserving open space, forests, natural areas and wildlife habitats; providing parks and trails, and preserving farmland should continue to be used for these purposes. This figure represented strong bi-partisan support, and is up by five percentage points since 2012.

The survey also found that more than three-quarters of respondents – 82.6 percent – would support increasing state funds to address these issues, even if it would cost the average household $10 more annually. This figure is up from 77.7 percent in 2012.

The survey was conducted between March 17 and April 16 this year by the Center for Survey Research at Penn State Harrisburg. The survey questions were commissioned by The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land. For the full results of the survey visit http://csr.hbg.psu.edu/PennStatePoll/MethodologyReportsandPressReleases/tabid/860/Default.aspx.

“Public support for protecting Pennsylvania’s extraordinary natural and historic treasures has always been strong, and this survey shows that it continues to grow,” said Heath. “If there is to be a severance tax on natural gas extraction, it makes sense that a significant portion should be invested in the forests, fields, rives and streams that Pennsylvanians value so highly.”

Despite the success of such programs like the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund, Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund, Agricultural Preservation, Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund, Heritage Areas Program and Historic Preservation, there is much more work that needs to be done. Consider that:

• The Commonwealth has 19,000 miles of rivers and streams that do not meet basic water quality standards.

• More than 2,000 family farms remain on the statewide list for preservation.

• Pennsylvania continues to lose more forest, wildlife habitat, farmland and other open spaces to overdevelopment than we are able to preserve.

• Abandoned mines still scar almost 220,000 acres across the Commonwealth and are the cause of more than 5,000 miles of dead streams.

Investments in conservation, recreation, and preservation also bolster the economy. A Trust for Public Land study found that for every $1 invested in land and water conservation, $7 in natural goods and services is returned to the state of Pennsylvania.

Moreover, investments in parks, trails, greenways, and open space add billions of dollars to property values and help support Pennsylvania’s tourism and recreation industry.  A report by the Outdoor Industry Association indicates that outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania generates $1.6 billion in state and local tax revenue and supports 219,000 direct Pennsylvania jobs.

In addition, conservation funding is an essential component for meeting federal Clean Water Act mandates associated with the Chesapeake Bay Blueprint and the need to reduce pollution in our local rivers and streams.

The Coalition also strongly supports preserving the funding provided by the current impact fee in order to address the impacts of drilling on communities and the environment.

“Communities across Pennsylvania have benefited from the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund,” said Heath. “These investments and the economic and quality of life benefits they bring must continue.”

About the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition

The mission of the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Coalition is to enhance the health and economic well-being of communities across the Commonwealth by advocating for funding to conserve, protect and restore land, water and wildlife; to preserve farms and historic places, and to provide well-managed parks and recreational areas throughout the state. Established in 2008, the Coalition comprises local, regional and statewide conservation, recreation and preservation groups.  For more information, visit www.PaGrowingGreener.org.

The Pennsylvania Senate is poised to vote on a bill that will allow county and local governments to sell our local parks for easy cash.  A vote on the bill could take place the week of October 1. If the bill passes, it goes to Governor Corbett for his signature.

For more information, visit www.ConservationAdvocate.org