[Northampton County, PA] – County Executive Lamont G. McClure and the Parks and Recreation Division are pleased to announce that Northampton County Council voted unanimously to approve the 2025 Livable Landscape Grant Award recommendations at the Wednesday, June 18th meeting. County Council approved all grant projects presented for a total grant award of $600,000.
The County’s Livable Landscapes Grant Program priorities include land conservation, ecological restoration, education and outreach, municipal park development and rehabilitation, and regional trails. All potential applicants participated in a grant workshop and mandatory individualized pre-application meetings.
Five (5) eligible projects were recommended for grant award approval from a review committee in the Division of Parks and Recreation, the Parks, Recreation, Open Space Advisory Board, County Council Energy, Environment, and Land Use Committee, and County Council.
“Through initiatives like the Northampton County Livable Landscapes Grant Program, we are able to empower our municipalities to protect the County’s important natural features, conduct ecological restoration, and provide outdoor recreation for future generations,” says County Executive McClure. “Our natural resources, green spaces, and recreational opportunities provides an economic value in terms of savings and earned costs, as a return on our investment in our communities”.
“Our grant recipients submitted high-quality, ready to go projects,” remarks Sherry Acevedo, Conservation Coordinator and Livable Landscapes Grant Administrator. “We are very pleased to be a funding partner in the construction of a Top 10 State Trail Gap recognized by PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in the City of Bethlehem. In 2024, a Livable Landscapes Grant Award supplemented this trail gap acquisition, and now we are helping to support the trail construction to connect the South Bethlehem Greenway to the Saucon Rail Trail.”
The grant projects were consistent with the goals and recommendations of the Livable Landscapes – An Open Space Plan for Northampton County and other local, regional, and statewide plans. Cumulatively, since 2006, Northampton County has invested $21.7 million of Livable Landscapes grant awards for land conservation, ecological restoration, streambank stabilization, regional trails, parks, recreation, open space plans, and municipal park development and rehabilitation.
2025 Northampton County Livable Landscapes Grant Program Awards
- Borough of Hellertown — Tumminello Park Improvements ($75,000) Municipal Park Development & Rehabilitation
- Borough of Northampton — 4th Street Playground Refurbishment ($100,000) Municipal Park Development & Rehabilitation
- Palmer Township — Fox Run Park & Open Space Schoeneck Creek Restoration ($50,000) Municipal Park Rehabilitation & Ecological Restoration
- Upper Mount Bethel Township — UMBT Preserve Phase I Construction ($75,000) Municipal Park Development & Ecological Restoration
- City of Bethlehem — Greenway Trail Gap Construction ($300,000) Regional Trail Development
TOTAL 2025 County Grant Award: $600,000
Information provided to TVL by:
County of Northampton
669 Washington Street
Easton, PA 18042
https://www.northamptoncounty.org/
