GRANTS AWARDED TO CONSERVE COASTAL RESOURCES

HARRISBURG, AUG. 5 – State Sen. Connie Williams announced that nearly $80,000 in grant funds was awarded to local organizations under the Federal Coastal Zone Management Program.

 The program, which began in 1980, provides grants and technical assistance to local governments and state agencies to help improve public access, protect natural resources, expand strategies to improve local economies, promote proper planning and conserve coastal resources.

 “The programs that these grants will fund really make a difference,” Williams said. “Whether it is a program to educate students or the community, organize a cleanup, or to monitor and restore watersheds, the end result is renewed interest in the future viability of watersheds.”

 Grants were awarded as follows:

• $25,800 – Friends Central School, Montogmery County, to continue with the monitoring and restoration of the Darby and Cobbs Creek Watersheds.

• $20,000 – Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Inc., for a 2006 Teacher’s Watershed Workshop.

• $30,500 – PA Clean Ways, Inc. of Philadelphia and Delaware counties, for an organized cleanup of priority watershed locations in the Delaware Estuary Coastal Zone.

 A majority of Coastal Zone Management grants are funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awards the grants in Pennsylvania.

 “As a result of the floods of the past several years, we know how important the care of our watersheds is to our communities,” Williams said.