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EPA Selects Rome, N.Y. Project For Sustainable Development Challenge Grant

Release Date: 05/01/1998
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(#98047) New York, N.Y. -- As part of its efforts to foster sustainable development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $48,000 to the Rome Sand Plains Management Partnership, a partnership made up of public officials, local government, environmental groups and local citizens, to develop nature-based tourism in the Rome Sand Plains, an ecosystem of sand dunes, pine barrens and wetlands within the City Limits of Rome, New York.

Recognizing that the Sand Plains could be a significant economic asset to the City of Rome and Oneida County, the partnership will use this grant and other funding to acquire land and develop trails and canoe ramps. The grant will also be used to produce educational displays, interpretive signage and brochures to promote a better understanding and appreciation for this valuable local resource. The Rome Sand Plains Management Partnership, lead by The Nature Conservancy's Central and Western New York Chapter, includes local and state elected officials, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officials, the Rome Chamber of Commerce, Old Erie Chapter of the National Audubon Society, the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority, the Rome Country Club, and volunteers from the New York State Open Space Committee.

"Environmental progress will not be achieved solely by regulation. There also is the need for individual, institutional, and corporate responsibility, commitment and stewardship," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Region 2 Administrator. "Sustainable development projects bring groups together to meet economic needs while preserving or improving the environment."

The Rome project was one of 45 projects to be selected nation- wide out of 962 applicants. The grants, totaling $5 million, are called challenge grants because they are expected to provide leveraging for other public funding and private funding in the communities. The grants also are intended to encourage community- based projects that integrate environmental protection and local community and economic goals and build partnerships. For more information about sustainable development or the Sustainable Development Challenge Grants, visit EPA's web site at //www.epa.gov/ecocommunity.

For more information contact:
Mary Helen Cervantes-Gross, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3673 FAX: 212-637-4445 E-Mail: cervantes.mary@epamail.epa.gov