Friends of PEC,

February was a month of accomplishments both great and small for PEC and our partners at the local, state, and federal levels. Over the last few weeks we've marked the successful completion of another Statewide Conference for Watershed Organizations, and celebrated the passage of 100 local government resolutions endorsing the Circuit Trails vision of trail connectivity across Greater Philadelphia. We've advanced the dialogue on state-level climate action and the future of Pennsylvania's nuclear fleet. And we ended the month with some of the most welcome news out of Congress in recent memory: permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Read on for more on these milestones and other recent news and content from the PEC website!
Common Ground
Every once in a while something happens in Congress that shows it’s still possible, despite all the partisan acrimony and dysfunction, to find common ground.
This time that common ground spans millions of acres newly designated as wilderness areas and public lands, under a sweeping conservation bill overwhelmingly approved last week in the House of Representatives.

Even better, the legislation — now just a presidential pen stroke away from becoming law — includes a permanent source of funding to acquire and improve many more acres via the reauthorized Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) .
Permanent reauthorization means that LWCF funding will be available indefinitely, at no cost to taxpayers, to support conservation efforts and development of outdoor-recreational resources in all 50 states.

Here in Pennsylvania, it means that federal dollars will continue flowing to protect and enhance some of our most valuable assets, from neighborhood parks and greenways to iconic sites like the Flight 93 National Memorial and the Appalachian Trail. And that means an even more solid foundation for the continued growth of our flourishing outdoor industry.
From iconic historic sites to neighborhood parks, LWCF provides crucial funding for some of Pennsylvania's most valuable assets.
PEC is proud to join with our friends and allies in the environmental community, our many partners in government and business, and the countless Pennsylvanians who cared enough to make their voices heard, in celebrating some of the best legislative news in recent memory.
The Circuit Trails Coalition, of which PEC is a proud and active member, is building a massive network of multi-use trails in and around Philadelphia. In February the effort reached a milestone: 100 local government bodies formally committed to completing 500 trail miles by 2025.

PEC's Trails team contributed to that tally through our work in Bensalem Township, the City of Chester, and Upper Dublin Township — just three of the 14 municipalities whose endorsements we helped to obtain.
These economically demographically disparate communities represent different populations and face different challenges, but they're united by the recognition that trail connectivity improves quality of life for everyone. The growing list of local resolutions shows the demand for trails in Greater Philadelphia is real — and the enthusiasm is contagious!
Pennsylvania is home to hundreds of small, people-powered organizations dedicated to protecting and restoring local watersheds. These groups are accomplishing great things in their communities, typically on a shoestring budget. But could they be even more effective by coordinating their efforts?
The Senate passes a massive public lands bill including permanent reauthorization for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, and Pennsylvania’s native trout are flourishing thanks to the state- and national-level work of Trout Unlimited. We talk with TU President Chris Wood and Mid-Atlantic Organizer Rob Shane.
The Pennsylvania Legacies podcast features conversations with community leaders, policy experts, and Pennsylvanians on the most important environmental and conservation issues facing the Commonwealth.

New episodes are posted every other Friday at pecpa.org/audio and are available on most podcast platforms.
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The news on climate change went from bad to worse in the last quarter of 2018.

During that time, and despite inaction on all fronts at the federal level, the biggest story may have been that science and defense agencies weighed in with their Fourth National Climate Assessment in which the Department of Defense estimated that we can expect “substantial damages on the U.S. economy, human health and the environment” if we do not mitigate the harmful impacts of greenhouse gas emissions...
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