$2,000,000 annual appropriation

$2,000,000 authorization for next five years

Luzerne and Carbon Counties

In 1998, Congress re-authorized the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor for five years. This law provides for the annual authorization of $1 million for administration and $1 million to implement a Management Action Plan approved by the Secretary of the Interior. To date, federal investments have been matched by a better than 10:1 ratio. Full funding for the D&L Corridor in fiscal 2000 would continue the preservation of historic sites throughout the watershed and, in particular, permit the creation of a visitor’s center in downtown Wilkes-Barre to begin. This "landing" would help to explain and illustrate the watershed’s deep history.

National Park Service

Allen Saches, Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor; Telephone (610) 861-9345

$1,700,000

$1,200,000

Eckley Miners Village, Luzerne County

This state-owned historic site is an entire anthracite coal patch and coal breaker that interprets life and work in the historic anthracite industry. Environmental and policy history is components of this theme, as well as the industry’s role in national and international industrial and social history. These themes are key elements in the D and L story. The Village is therefore intended to serve as the eastern gateway for the Heritage Corridor’s "Anthracite Field Reach." The Commonwealth has already committed $2.4 million in capital funds in restoration of residential buildings in the village. The next phase of site development will be the restoration of the breaker and development of exhibit space for orientation to the D and L Corridor and other exhibits. This investment will create opportunities for expanded tourism and economic development as well as education and historic preservation. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has included $1.2 million in capital funds have been committed to complete the next phase of this federal/state/local partnership.

Donna Williams, Director, Bureau of Historic Sites, PHMC; Telephone (717) 787-2723

1

$10,640,000

$4,555,000

Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties

This pedestrian/bicycle trail is proposed to run forty miles from the confluence of the Lackawanna and Susquehanna Rivers at Pittston/Duryea northward through Scranton, the Mid Valley, Carbondale, and Forest City in the vicinity of Stillwater Dam. The Trail is a product of several federal, state, local initiatives and partners. The Trail is proposed to link to Wyoming Valley trails and the Delaware and Lehigh Trail southward and the Delaware and Hudson and Ontario and Western rail trails to the north into New York state and the headwaters of the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers. The Rail Trail Council has acquired thirty-two miles of former Delaware and Hudson rail bed and six miles of Ontario and Western rail bed in the Upper Lackawanna watershed. The RTC is making improvements with volunteers and ISTEA funds. RTC is seeking additional TEA 21 funds for construction and improvements to trail facilities.

Department of Transportation Rails-to-Trails program, Department of the Interior, PA DCNR Rivers Conservation and Rail-to-Trails programs, local communities, regional foundations

Bernard McGurl, Executive Director, Lackawanna River Corridor Association; Telephone (570) 347-6311

3

$3,000,000

Lackawanna and Wayne Counties

Historically, the economic and cultural connections of the Lackawanna Valley were to the north and east: New York and New England. With the early development of the anthracite coal industry, it was New York-based investment that led to the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal from 1825 to 1829. Since the Canal builders could not continue the canal over the summit of Moosic Mountain, they devised an ingenious system of wenches and cables to hoist coal wagons over the mountains on gravity railroads. The Delaware and Hudson Gravity ran from Carbondale on the Lackawanna to Honesdale at the head of the canal from 1829 to 1899. The Pennsylvania Coal Company built a similar gravity railroad from Pittston on the Susquehanna up the Lackawanna Valley to Dunmore than over the Moosic Mountain above Roaring Brook to Hawley along the canal. Many sections of these gravity railroad rights-of-way, inclines, and stone foundations of stationary engine houses and related structures remain along Moosic Mountain. This project proposes to inventory and assess these elements and to develop a federal, state, and local program to conserve and interpret the gravity railroad while developing appropriate portions as scenic recreational trails. Several partners are already at work on portions of the D&H, including the Waymart Historical Society. The Lackawanna Valley Conservancy has an interest in the Pennsylvania Coal Company Gravity inclines in Dunmore and Jefferson Township.

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, US Department of Interior, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Bernard McGurl, Executive Director, Lackawanna River Corridor Association; Telephone (570) 347-6311

3

$500,000

Hazleton, Luzerne County

Funding has been obtained to begin a feasibility study into the development of a rails-to-trails project running approximately east/west through the Greater Hazleton Area. Pending feasibility, additional funding would be necessary to initiate and complete this project.

Office of Surface Mining, PA Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, US Environmental Protection Agency.

Alan Saches, Executive Director, Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor; Telephone (610) 861-9345; Lena Kotansky, Executive Director, Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership; Telephone (570) 455-1508; Robert Stanziola, Chairman, Mountain Council of Governments; Telephone (570) 455-6301

2

$50,000

Exeter and West Pittston, Luzerne County

Exeter Borough and West Pittston have jointly planned a rails-to-trails project. The project will provide a 23-mile trail along Hick’s Creek.

Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Ed Farrell, Exeter Borough Council; Telephone (570) 384-4671; Richard Melvin, President, West Pittston Borough Council; Telephone (570) 655-7782

2

$1,840,000

$120,000 (in-kind)

Lackawanna County

Lackawanna County acquired twelve miles of a former Erie-Lackawanna branch line between Dunmore Borough and Jefferson Township in 1972. Rail structures have been removed and the property is used informally as a trail to access fishing areas along Roaring Brook in a scenic gorge adjacent to the Steamtown National Historic Site excursion line. This trail will join the urban portion of the Lackawanna Valley with suburban and rural areas of the Poconos.

TEA 21, PA DCNR, local municipalities

Bernard McGurl, Executive Director, Lackawanna River Corridor Association; Telephone (570) 347-6311; Harry Lindsay, Executive Director, Lackawanna County Regional Planning Commission; Telephone (570) 963-6826

2

To be determined

Scranton, Lackawanna County

The Providence Depot of the New York, Ontario, and Western Railway is located on a four-acre site adjacent to the Lackawanna River at Market Street in the Providence Section of North Scranton. The site has been used as an auto junkyard since 1958 and is presently operated as Rudy’s Wrecking. This site is proposed for restoration in the Lackawanna River Plan and the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Plan. The plans propose reuse of the site as park land, a trail head for the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail being developed on the balance of the rail property through the site as well as restoration, cultural interpretation and reuse of the circa 1890 wooden rail depot. Funds are needed to acquire the property; to assist in the relocation of the auto recycler to a more appropriate location away from the river corridor, to a reclaimed brownfields site co-located with other recycling operations; to clean up and re-landscape the site; to install parking and trail head facilities; and to renovate the rail depot structure.

PA DCNR Rivers Conservation/Rails-to-Trails programs, PA DCED economic development programs, community development block grants, local communities, regional foundations.

Bernard McGurl, Executive Director, Lackawanna River Corridor Association; Telephone (570) 347-6311; Robert Durkin, Executive Director, Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority; Telephone (570) 876-6188

$50,000

Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County

This project will create a Trail Opportunity Plan between existing parks, recreational and/or natural areas within the City limits. The Plan will include an evaluation of the trail corridor located along abandoned rail corridors, roadways, city-owned utility right-of-ways, stream corridors, levees, etc. It will also incorporate linkages to existing parks, recreation sites, and schools, and will identify linkages with other trail projects that are proposed or underway near or within city limits.

Enhancement Funds via TEA-21, 80%/20% split

Unknown

$3,953,126

Columbia County

The proposed Columbia County Susquehanna Trail is a pedestrian/bicycle trail approximately six miles in length, connecting four municipalities located in Columbia County and the Upper Susquehanna and Lackawanna Watershed American Heritage Rivers Area. The trail will be constructed on portions of the abandoned Reading Railroad and Pennsylvania Canal towpath. The proposed trail route is through a very scenic portion of the County, offering easy access to over 15,000 local residents and the thousands of visitors that come to our area each year. The proposed trail also connects two municipal parks and existing bike route, and it provides access to numerous historical structures and points of interest. Additionally, the trail has the potential to connect with proposed trails located in the American Heritage River Area. The trail will also provide residents with a unique alternative transportation opportunity. Residents will be able to commute, by way of the trail, to work, to school, to downtown business districts, and to other recreational areas and annual events. The proposed trail would truly enhance the "quality of life" in the area by promoting recreational opportunities and a healthier lifestyle, by alleviating traffic congestion and the associated pollution, by preserving history of the area, by protecting the environment, and by increasing or enhancing the economic opportunities in the area. Larson Design Group has formulated the construction cost estimates. Agreements have been reached with all landowners. And, grant applications have been submitted to the appropriate agencies.

TEA-21, DCNR Keystone Program

Robert Aungst, Columbia County Planning Commission; Telephone (570) 389-9146

3

$958,000

Danville, Montour County

Danville Borough owns and operates two outdoor recreation areas, known as the Hartman and Hess Recreation Areas. The Hess is composed of two full-sized soccer fields, three softball/Little League baseball fields, a pavilion that can accommodate over fifty people, a lot area, and parking for fifty cars. The Hartman is composed of a regulation baseball field, a softball/Little League field, a regulation-sized soccer field, a pavilion that can accommodate 100 people, and parking for over 100 cars. Although both areas are excellent recreational facilities, even more could be done to enhance the areas and add to the user’s quality of life.

Department of Transportation Rails-to-Trails Program, Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Federal Community Development Block Grant Program

Tom Graham, Danville Borough Secretary; Telephone (570) 275-3091