News

October 30, 2024

The Highlands Conservation Act Turns 20!

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of the Highlands Conservation Act. Passed on November 30, 2004, the Highlands Conservation Act was based on a study directed by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, otherwise known as the Farm Bill. Section 1244 directed a study that would focus on how to maintain adequate water supply for the region and preserve contiguous forests while also maintaining future growth. The study was expanded to include Pennsylvania and Connecticut, consisting of a region that covers 3.4 million acres of forests, waterways, and other diverse natural communities. These four states are crucial to providing clean water to the large metropolitan areas within the states this region covers. In the New Jersey Highlands, as much as 373 million gallons of potable water are produced daily. In New Jersey alone over 6.2 million people, most of which live outside of the Highlands, rely on the region for their drinking water. The Highlands Conservation Act includes the Highlands Conservation Act grant program, allocating $10 million dollars a year in matching grant funds for conservation projects within the region. Since 2004, $48 million in federal funds, matched by $74 million in non-federal funds have been used to permanently protect over 16,000 acres of land. When the Highlands Conservation Act was reauthorized in 2022, the Highlands boundary was expanded, nearly tripling the size of the region, to a potential 10 million acres that are able to be conserved. The reauthorized act also ensured federal funding until fiscal year 2029. It is also no longer just states that can hold titles to lands but also municipalities and governments, thus broadening the opportunities and capacities for who applies for the Highlands Conservation Act grant funds. The past 20 years have been monumental for land conservation in the region and deserve to be celebrated! On October 23, the Fish and Wildlife Service hosted a hike at Storm King Mountain in New York. This event, in partnership with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Palisades Interstate Park Commission, and New York State Parks, was a gathering of nonprofits and state agencies that are currently working in the four-state Highlands region. Over the course of the three-mile hike, participants were able to talk about successful projects, learn more about different organizations, and hear the history of the Highlands Conservation Act and the region. At the summit of Storm King Mountain, due to radio tower landmarks, participants were able to see where the previous boundary for the Highlands landscape had been. With the changes to the Highlands boundary, the new boundary was out of sight, highlighting just how much more land is available to be conserved. This event left all participants feeling excited and hopeful for the Highlands Conservation Act to continue to hit major milestones. The goal for the next 20 years is to conserve more land, build climate resiliency, and increase outdoor access, specifically for Justice 40 communities and the Indigenous groups that have traditionally called the Highlands landscape home. If you and

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September 16, 2024

Updated PA Highlands Resources Interactive Map

The PA Highlands Resources Interactive Map has been updated. This map can be found on the homepage of the Pennsylvania Highlands website. Explore over 40 features on the interactive map that cover recreational resources, federal and state funding opportunities, environmental justice communities, the US FWS Highlands Resource Priorities, and other features. In addition to reviewing this information, you can also locate these resources within a specified distance from a defined location, through the “Resources Near Me” tab. This update is based on interviews conducted for the AMC Conservation Planning Tools Survey in 2023 and aims to provide information to help our partners make informed decisions on land conservation and planning efforts in the Pennsylvania Highlands region. Check it out at – https://pahighlands.org/

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September 11, 2024

LWCF 60th Anniversary

September 3, 2024, marked the 60th anniversary of the passing of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), our nation’s premier federal conservation funding program. At the time of its creation, LWCF was to receive yearly allocations of $900 million in royalties from energy companies that drill on the Outer Continental Shelf. The goal was to take revenue from the depletion of oil and gas sites and to use the proceeds to protect federal lands and to create grants for state and local parks, trails and recreation areas. It has since grown to offer grants for the protection of wildlife areas, forests, and critical drinking water supplies. The passing of this bipartisan legislation in 1964 allowed for the investment of over $22 billion in local, state, and federal projects over the next 60 years. The LWCF State and Local Assistance Program has funded over 46,000 projects, with a project site being found in every county in the country. LWCF expired in 2018 but received permanent reauthorization and funding through the passing of the Great American Outdoor Act (GAOA) of 2020. LWCF is also the federal funding partner for the Highlands Conservation Act (HCA), that was enacted in 2004 to protect the Highlands region of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Since then, over $70 million of Congressionally appropriated LWCF funding has leveraged over $41 million in matching funds from private, state, and local funders. These funds have been used to protect 14,000 acres and complete over 40 projects across the 4-state region. As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of LWCF, we’re also celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Highlands Conservation Act. Learn more and watch a short video about the Highlands program on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s website. As of September 2024, the Pennsylvania Highlands region has benefitted from LWCF funding through the Highlands program at 11 completed project sites. Some of the sites that have been recipients of HCA grants through LWCF are William Penn State Forest, Nockamixon State Park, and Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center State Park. Through management by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the security of funds through GAOA, there are yearly funding opportunities for projects that work towards the land protection and stewardship goals of HCA. Throughout the month of September, we encourage people to get outside and celebrate LWCF’s anniversary by visiting a park or trail that has benefited from LWCF, whether in the Pennsylvania Highlands or elsewhere. A map to explore every HCA location can be found here and a list of those projects is available from the Fish and Wildlife Service. Other locations of LWCF funded projects, across the country, can be found here.

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April 23, 2024

RSVP: Highlands Trail Ribbon Cutting at Nockamixon State Park

Join the Appalachian Mountain Club, DCNR, the Schuylkill Highlands Conservation Landscape, and additional Highlands Trail partners to celebrate the completion of a 3-mile segment of the Highlands Trail through Nockamixon State Park! This new section of trail connects the Marina Day Use Area to the Haycock Boat Launch, closing a gap in the Highlands Trail network. In its full completion, the Highlands Trail will connect Nockamixon State Park to Quakertown borough.  →

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January 9, 2024

Community Spotlight: Saucon Valley Bikes

Joël Nankman, owner of Saucon Valley Bikes, is originally from Suriname, South America, former Dutch Guiana. He traveled around the Caribbean and Europe racing and working at various bike shops, where he met his wife, a Lehigh Valley native. Relocating to the US, in 2010, he started working for Saucon Valley Bikes, before accepting a job with Bicycling Magazine. In August 2022, he purchased Saucon Valley Bikes while focusing mainly on mountain bike endurance racing.   →

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