The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is now accepting applications for 2018 Canoe Access Development Fund Grants, which supports projects that will improve canoe and kayak access to the region’s waterways.
The deadline for applications is November 17. Recipients will be notified by December 15.
WPC’s Canoe Access Development Fund helps make the region’s rivers and streams more accessible for outdoor recreation by providing grants to watershed organizations or other community groups to develop rustic access sites for canoers and kayakers. Currently, 45 fund-supported projects are completed and open to the public.
“When we started canoeing, access to some of the streams in Western Pennsylvania was problematic,” said Roy Weil, co-founder of the fund. “We established the CADF with the Conservancy to help organizations improve primitive walk-in access sites in their local communities. We hope that making it easier for people to canoe the streams will get them involved in preserving the great natural heritage of the area.”
Proposed new access sites should be located along a stream or river featured in Canoeing Guide to Western Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia, a similar guidebook or resource, or be recognized as a paddling waterway in Western Pennsylvania.
Qualified grant recipients will receive up to $4,000 per site for the construction and enhancement of canoe and kayak access locations. Grant funding could be used in multiple ways, including stabilizing access areas to rivers or streams, adding nearby parking areas or purchasing riverside access.
“Thanks to this fund, we assisted several organizations with more than 45 projects over the past seven years,” said Eli Long, a watershed manager and the fund’s coordinator at the Conservancy. “It’s great to see these groups planning and creating new paddling trips for the public by connecting other funded access sites.”
To apply and for all the details, visit the WPC’s 2018 Canoe Access Development Fund Grants webpage. Questions should be directed to Eli Long at WPC’s Watershed Conservation office by sending email to: elong@paconserve.org or call 724-471-7202, ext. 5105.
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