State official visits Moraine to tout park funding
MUDDY CREEK TWP — The secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources used the burned-out backdrop of the lightning-damaged bike rental building at Moraine State Park to tout a funding package for much-needed upgrades in Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests.
Cindy Dunn and John Norbeck, DCNR secretary and deputy secretary, respectively, traveled from Harrisburg to Moraine on Tuesday to advocate for a $450 million Growing Greener initiative introduced by Gov. Tom Wolf that would support state parks, state forests, local recreation, state Department of Environmental Protection programs, agricultural preservation and more.
Of those funds, $135 million would be earmarked for DCNR upgrades in state parks and state forests, Dunn said.
Wolf’s funding package, which has support in both the state House and Senate, would come from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Dunn said Moraine State Park alone needs more than $20 million to complete all the upgrades necessary to keep all facets of the 17,000-acre park operating, as most systems, buildings and facilities are more than 50 years old.
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