Corbett Budget Wrongly Ends Funding for Parks and Trails

[JPZenger]

http://articles.mcall.com/2012-03-28/opinion/mc-keystone-fund-trails-parks-yv-0329-20120328_1_park-and-conservation-fund-corbett-budget-plan-keystone-recreation

Excerpts:

"...over the last 19 years, the Keystone Fund has helped improve facilities in our national award-winning state park and forest systems, enabled more than 200 local libraries to expand and renovate their facilities, and helped preserve and protect more than 490 Pennsylvania historical landmarks, structures and museums.

Wildlands Conservancy and the city of Allentown have received Keystone grants totaling more than $10 million to complete numerous park, conservation and land-acquisition projects right here in the Lehigh Valley. Examples of some local projects include the renovation of the Cedar Creek Parkway, the acquisition of Camp Olympic, the restoration of Trout Creek and numerous regional and local trail development projects.

Without Keystone funding support, these important projects that protect our natural environment and enhance our communities might not have been completed. However, the Keystone Fund is not a handout. Every dollar awarded from the fund has triggered more than $2 in local and private investments. That means that the Keystone Fund has helped leverage more than $20 million to help improve our community and the natural resources of the Lehigh Valley.

In addition, Keystone Fund investments, in turn, generate hundreds of millions of dollars in statewide economic activity, including increased purchasing, rising property values and creating much-needed construction jobs. ... the end of the popular Keystone Fund would set back park, recreation and conservation policy by more than 20 years. We should be increasing, not decreasing, funding for the programs that protect Pennsylvania's rich natural resources, create low-cost recreational opportunities and stimulate community revitalization."