HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Corbett announced on Tuesday, April 22, that he is awarding $309,626 in environmental education grants to 111 schools, universities, nonprofit organizations, and conservation districts across Pennsylvania, including seven grants totaling more than $18,000 in Chester County.

“Each year, these grants are awarded to deserving organizations to educate Pennsylvanians about important environmental issues,” Corbett said. “Their work plays in integral role in the preservation and enhancement of Pennsylvania’s air, land and water.”

Grant recipients will use the funding for various initiatives, including farm field days, summer camps, exploratory learning activities, professional development and explanatory signage along watersheds. Through these initiatives, students, teachers, farmers and others will learn about a variety of environmental issues ranging from pollination, stormwater management, and hydroponics in agriculture, to Marcellus Shale and the Chesapeake Bay, among other topics, a news release from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said.

The Chester County recipients are the
 Downingtown Area School District,  $3,000; the Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, $3,000; 
Green Valleys Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc., $2,882; 
Urban and Rural Science Alliance, Inc., $2,975; 
Pennsbury Historic Preservation, Inc., $2,970;  
Great Valley Nature Center, $2,500; and the 
Owen J. Roberts School District, $1,207.

“These projects will use proven best management practices to educate Pennsylvanians about their environment,” DEP Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo said. “Funding environmental education initiatives is an important part of fulfilling DEP’s mission.”

The grant program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993, which mandates setting aside five percent of the pollution fines and penalties DEP collects annually for environmental education in Pennsylvania.

For more information about environmental education, visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click “Environmental Education,” or call 717-772-1828.