The PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources this month announced $5,218,900 in grant awards for organizations and projects across the 13-county PA Wilds Conservation Landscape region that help to advance local efforts to grow the region’s tourism and outdoor recreation sectors in a sustainable way.  

The investments were selected through a statewide competitive process as part of the Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2), a grant program DCNR administers annually. 

This year’s C2P2 grants in the PA Wilds region cover a range of projects and partnerships, from providing funding for regional organizations that are helping to coordinate outdoor recreation, tourism and heritage development partnership networks, programs, mini grant programs and other critical capacity, to specific projects in individual communities related to stewardship, planning, and developing tourism, recreation and heritage assets. 

The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship (PA Wilds Center) received two grants totaling $406,000, to support its work coordinating the PA Wilds programs and partner networks, as well as to undertake key projects, such as standing up a bike rental/share operation in Marienville along the Knox-Kane Rail Trail;  increased messaging around planned maintenance at the Kinzua Skywalk, a major attraction in the region; and undertaking the first of seven visitor-oriented recreation maps of the region, which the Center is developing in partnership with local communities and PA-based Purple Lizard Maps, a premier recreation mapping company with distribution across the Mid-Atlantic Region.  

PA Wilds Center CEO Ta Enos applauded the Commonwealth’s continued investments in outdoor recreation and tourism in rural PA. “DCNR has been a foundational investor in the regional effort to grow tourism and outdoor recreation since it began 20 years ago,” Enos said. “The C2P2 program is one way they do that. Not only do they invest directly in our mission at the Center, they invest in all these incredible community-driven outdoor recreation and conservation projects, and in regional organizations that are helping to advance sustainable development in this sector. It adds so much momentum.”

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released new data this month that showed outdoor recreation contributed $1.2 trillion (2.3% of GDP) and 5 million jobs to the U.S. economy in 2023, up from $1.1 trillion in 2022. 

Jessica (Wahl) Turner, President of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, a national organization that advocates for investment in the sector, said “The new BEA data highlights outdoor recreation as a cornerstone of our economy, generating jobs, supporting small businesses, and providing essential opportunities for Americans to engage with the outdoors for health, connection, and quality of life. This release should signal to policy makers and leaders across the country that investing in outdoor infrastructure and access must remain a national, bipartisan priority.” 

Outdoor recreation economy stats, which are broader than tourism statistics because they include the manufacturing of outdoor products and other categories – are not available at the regional or county level. Tourism statistics are available, however, and they show that tourism grew to a $1.9 billion industry in the PA Wilds in 2022. 

“Tourism and outdoor recreation are a critical industry for rural PA,” Enos said. “They are an economic engine in their own right, but as important, they work on the suite of amenities that help make our communities more vibrant and livable, helping us attract and retain population and workforce, which we really need. We are really fortunate in PA to have programs like C2P2, that invest in outdoor recreation and conservation, and we are thrilled to see so many rural communities compete in it and benefit from it.”   

The DCNR C2P2 is funded by a variety of state and federal funding sources, including: the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund (Key); the Environmental  Stewardship Fund (ESF); the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) subject to National Park Service approval; the federal Pennsylvania Recreational Trails Program Fund (PRT); the federal USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program (IRA); and the Pennsylvania Heritage Area Program (HA). 

Along with the PA Wilds Center, other statewide and regional agencies that received grants within the PA Wilds landscape include the Lumber Heritage Region, North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Pennsylvania Route 6 Alliance, and the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership.

“The PA Wilds is the largest of the state’s eight Conservation Landscapes where multi-county collaboration is offering new economic and environmental improvement opportunities for the region’s rural communities,” said Meredith Hill, DCNR Director for the PA Wilds Conservation Landscape Program. “DCNR’s support of local efforts and partnerships through the C2P2 program, in concert with infrastructure investments in public lands and facilities, provide an important foundation for the PA Wilds landscape strategy.”

Read the full list of fall 2024 C2P2 grant recipients in the PA Wilds region below. The full press release from DCNR can be found here.