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Revitalize Communities

The Environmental Stewardship Fund empowers communities to revitalize themselves in cost-effective ways that strengthen their economies, create green spaces, preserve connections to the past, and improve energy efficiency. The result is more livable communities where residents are happier and healthier.

Highlights:

  • 320+ projects to improve community parks
  • Tens of thousands of trees planted through TreeVitalize
  • $2 billion in consumer spending and 25,000+ jobs generated by Pennsylvania Heritage Areas (funded in part by the Environmental Stewardship Fund)

Challenges

Community Parks in Need of Repair

There are more than 5,000 community parks across Pennsylvania, and many were built decades ago. The years have taken a toll—today most of these treasured local spaces require upgrades to improve safety, modernize their facilities, and accommodate new types of games and sports. A substantial number also need to be made more accessible so that all Pennsylvanians have the chance to enjoy them.

Struggling Local Economies and Decaying Downtowns

Across Pennsylvania, hundreds of communities have fallen on hard times in the post-industrial era. Jobs have disappeared, people have moved away, and local businesses have closed. The resulting economic collapse means that residents have fewer opportunities to earn a living, receive a quality education, and live satisfying, healthy lives. Many municipalities—especially in rural areas—are struggling to chart a sustainable economic future.

Often these struggles go hand-in-hand with the decay of downtowns. Historic buildings deteriorate, businesses close, green spaces are overgrown with weeds, and roads and sidewalks fall into disrepair. What were once bustling community hubs become hollowed-out ghost towns.

Loss of Tree Cover

Besides looking nice, tree-lined streets clean the air, control stormwater, increase property values, reduce energy costs, and provide other economic and environmental benefits. Unfortunately, loss of tree cover is a growing problem in Pennsylvania—our state is losing 4,300 acres of community tree cover each year. This loss results in millions more cubic feet of stormwater runoff each year, costing millions of dollars in economic and environmental damage. When communities lack tree cover, they often face lower property values, higher energy costs, and worse air quality.

Lack of Energy Efficiency

Many buildings (such as schools and hospitals) and municipal infrastructure (such as streetlights) use aging energy systems that run on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. These systems are unsustainable in the long term because they rely on non-renewable fuel sources that one day will be gone. They also are less efficient than newer, clean-energy-based systems, resulting in higher costs for heating, cooling, and lighting. Ultimately, taxpayers and customers bear the brunt of these costs.

Accomplishments

Create and Enhance Community Parks

Environmental Stewardship Fund investments have supported over 320 projects to enhance existing parks or create new ones in communities throughout Pennsylvania. These projects are especially vital in small or low-income communities, where residents may have no safe places to exercise and play with their children.

Restore Tree Cover

The Environmental Stewardship Fund has helped municipalities across Pennsylvania restore their tree cover through TreeVitalize, which pays for trees and planting materials and also provides technical guidance. Altogether, TreeVitalize has planted more than 34,000 trees in communities across the state. By providing shade, trees reduce energy costs for residents. They remove and store carbon dioxide from the air, which mitigates climate change and improve air quality, and filter stormwater, which decreases pollution and flooding. Also, tree-lined sidewalks make neighborhoods and cities more attractive places to live.

Boost Local Economies and Revitalize Downtowns

The Pennsylvania Heritage Area program, supported in part by Environmental Stewardship Fund investments, showcases the unique cultural, historical, and environmental assets of 12 regions across Pennsylvania. The program promotes recreation, tourism, and education, generating $2 billion in annual consumer spending and contributing over 25,000 jobs and $790 million in labor income to the state’s economy. Much of this spending occurs in communities struggling to reinvent themselves in the 21st-century economy—often, recreation and tourism leverage the remnants of industry (such as rail-trails and historic sites) to create new economic opportunities.

Growing Greener II bond funding also helped communities invest in downtown revitalization and redevelopment, transforming neglected areas into thriving spaces for businesses, housing, and community events. Environmental Stewardship Fund grants have supported projects to restore historic buildings for productive use, beautify streetscapes, and more.

Increase Energy Efficiency

Through the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority Board, Growing Greener II bond funding supported projects to make schools, hospitals, and other buildings more energy efficient by installing systems powered by alternative sources like wind, solar, and geothermal. Other projects have replaced inefficient incandescent bulbs in streetlights and parking garages with high-efficiency LED bulbs. Combined, these systems reduce energy usage by millions of kilowatts each year, ultimately saving communities money and reducing their environmental impact.

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Success Stories

Partnerships Bring Erie to Pittsburgh Trail Closer to Reality

The vision of a trail connecting Erie and Pittsburgh is a little closer to reality. The Erie to Pittsburgh Trail Alliance received funding from DCNR for trail development, capacity building, and training. Trail groups learned sustainable self-building techniques and how to leverage volunteer time to secure more funding. Funding came from the Environmental Stewardship Fund. The Erie to […]

Forrest R. Mellott Sports Complex

Southern Fulton County is known for its gently rolling hills and expansive farms and pastures. The area’s rich agricultural history has traditionally lent itself to an abundance of open space and few venues for organized sports. Recognizing this deficiency, in 2000 the Southern Fulton School District commissioned a private consulting firm to determine the feasibility […]

Pleasant Hill Park

Pleasant Hill Park is a three-acre park and public boat launch situated on the Delaware River in the East Torresdale neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia. There were once a variety of problems plaguing the park. Neighbors and city residents had no access to the river for casual walking and viewing. The design was not friendly to […]

Pittsburgh’s North Shore Riverfront Park

The North Shore Riverfront Park project involved the complete redesign and rehabilitation of a 67,00-foot segment of linear park and trail facilities along the north shore of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers in downtown Pittsburgh. The area was initially designed and developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s  as a passive linear park to […]

Frank W. Kocher Memorial Park

Frank W. Kocher Memorial Park provides a variety of recreational opportunities for Columbia County and the surrounding area. An Environmental Stewardship Fund grant helped develop the park, with an emphasis on accessibility so that young children and individuals with disabilities can fish, play, and enjoy nature. There are few, if any, similar opportunities within the […]

More Stories

  • Who Does What?

This website is maintained by WeConservePA with support from the Community Conservation Partnership Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

Please note that WeConservePA does not manage Growing Greener or the Environmental Stewardship Fund. Nor does the Growing Greener Coalition. This is the responsibility of the state agencies authorized under law: DCNR, DEP, PDA, and PennVEST. For information on the Keystone Park and Recreation Fund, click here.

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