Grants

Clean water is a priority for partners across all of Lancaster County, especially since over half of our streams and much of our groundwater are unhealthy.

The Lancaster Clean Water Fund serves as a catalyst for increased collaboration to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of current and future clean water projects in accordance with the Lancaster Countywide Action Plan.

Since 2019, the fund has provided $972,000 to 16 nonprofits and municipalities working on stream restoration, riparian buffer plantings, agricultural BMPs, education, and stormwater management projects. The fund addresses the immense need for clean water work throughout the county, and provides financial support to bring ideas to life.

The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts was awarded a $100,000 Community Conservation Partnerships Program Grant from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to offer Lawn Conversion training and mini-grants to Pennsylvania’s conservation districts. The lawn conversion program will help the Commonwealth achieve a goal of planting 5,000 acres of upland forest and 5,000 acres of meadow by 2025.

The Lawn Conversion for Conservation Districts training recording and a copy of Ryan Davis’s presentation are available on the PA Clean Water Academy. Click here to access the course page. (You will need to be logged in.) It is recommended that you complete the training before applying for the sub-grant.

Questions may be directed to Holly Miller, PACD Program Manager, at hmiller@pacd.org or (717) 794-6105.

The Mine Map Grant (MMG) provides funding to learning institutions and incorporated nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania to process mine maps and mine data into electronic formats that can be used in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other computer applications. Primarily, the MMG will fund the scanning, georeferencing, vectorizing and 3D modeling of mine maps. All these efforts will improve the quality, quantity and delivery of mining information to the millions of residents of Pennsylvania's mining regions.

The MMG also provides opportunities for learning institutions and nonprofits to train individuals in the use of the emerging geospatial technologies that will be integral to many computer operations, especially governmental operations that provide services and information to the residents of Pennsylvania. However, the experience gained from creating geospatial elements of a geodatabase is applicable to almost any profession or business. If you have questions about the MMG, please contact us by email at: RA-MMG@pa.gov

Pennsylvania’s conservation districts are encouraged to apply for funding to install multi-functional buffers (A riparian forest buffer that provides opportunities for harvesting products such as nuts, berries, woody florals, forbs, and potentially woody biomass) in conjunction with landowners. This grant is first come first served. The grant round will stay open until funds are used up or June 30, 2022, whichever comes first. No match required.