National Road awards grants
Wharton Township and the Mountain Watershed Association of Melcroft were among 12 recipients of grants from the National Road Heritage Corridor and the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor.
?The grant money is from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to support the Laurel Highlands Conservation Landscape Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to improve the region’s quality of life and economy through sustainable development connected to the natural and cultural assets of the Laurel Highlands.
Grant applicants were given priority if their projects were located in communities and parks along four focus landscapes — Laurel Ridge, Chestnut Ridge, the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail and the Stonycreek River and Johnstown areas.
The other recipients were the Allegheny Ridge Corporation, Casselman River Watershed, Greensburg, Johnstown, Coal and Coke Trail Chapter, Johnstown Redevelopment Authority, Latrobe Community Revitalization Partnership, Ligonier Township Recreation Board, the Progress Fund and the Stonycreek Quemahoning Initiative. The grants require a one-to-one match and will leverage more than $100,000 in additional money. Amounts for the various grants weren’t released.
The National Road Heritage Corridor and the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor are both 501c 3 nonprofit organizations. and two of the commonwealth’s 12 designated heritage areas.
under DCNR’s Pennsylvania Heritage Area Program.