LERC and VanAmburg Group, Inc. recently completed a critical study:

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF PROTECTED OPEN SPACE IN ERIE COUNTY, PA

Tom Fuhrman and David VanAmburg presented the results at the Jefferson Education Society to a packed house on February 7, 2013. The audience of 80 individuals from throughout the county engaged in a spirited discussion. If you missed it, the PowerPoint highlighting the study’s results is available below.

The Jefferson Education Society presents lectures, classes and seminars year-round. You can join their mailing list here.

ACCESS THE REPORT AND PRESENTATION

View and download the Presentation.

View and download the Executive Summary.

View and download the Full Report.

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS

Key findings include:

• $556 million  IN ANNUAL ECONOMIC VALUE, INCLUDING:
• $14.7 million in annual property and transfer tax revenue for local governments
• $149.6 million in costs avoided as a result of natural provision of environmental services
• $156 million in annual benefit for residents who recreate on protected open space
• $128 million in annually avoided medical and workers compensation costs as a result of recreation that takes place on protected open space
• $2.8 million in commodity sales from preserved working farmland
• $7 million in municipal park maintenance expenditures
• $18 million in tourism revenue
• $72.7 million in annual salaries
• $7.3 millions in annual state and local taxes

 PLUS

• 1,678 jobs created on or as a result of protected open space in Erie County
• $535 million added to Erie County housing stock value –$4,490  for every housing unit

WHAT’S NEXT

LERC’s next goal is to get a referendum on the 2014 ballot to let Erie County voters decide if they want to let tax millage generate $250,000/ year so that LERC can finally have funds to work with when Erie County land becomes available to protect through land acquisition or easement/ development rights purchase.

Call Tom to get involved and help make this happen.

“When Trees Come Home”

6 till 9 at Avonia Beach / Brugger Cottage

Driftwood by Brian Pardini, Del Freedline, Tom Fuhrman and others

$25 donation includes membership in LERC, cocktails and food.

RSVP requested

Contact Tom Fuhrman at 814-566-9319 or lercerie@gmail.com.

The collaboration outlined above has benefited from a relationship with Mercyhurt University which has a long history of engaging students in environmental issues and projects.  Mercyhurst has supported the efforts of the groups with student volunteers, faculty research, meeting and office space, and administrative support. The Mercyhurst University Office of Service Learning has been especially helpful in connecting the environmental groups to neighborhood organizations and community sites within the City of Erie. These inner-city groups include, The Erie Neighborhood Watch Council, the 18th Street Community Builders, Emmaus Kids’ Café, the Neighborhood Art House, Booker T Washington Center, Bayfront NATO, Martin Luther King Jr Center, Boys and Girls Club, Trinity Center, and the John F Kennedy Center. Mercyhurst College students and community volunteers from these organizations have already established several wildlife gardens and planted and/or helped to maintain over 200 trees in the City of Erie. The Partnership of Environmental groups and Mercyhurst have also participated in numerous public events and workshops to educate the general public and the neighborhood volunteers about how to create and maintain a healthy Urban Forest. Recently, representatives from the environmental group collaborative, Mercyhurst College, and the Penn State Cooperative Extension negotiated with the City of Erie Council and the Mayor’s office to revitalize the Erie City Tree Management Ordinance, which has been on the books for well over 40 years, but has not been enforced or supported for the last 20 years. The City is now planning to partner with the environmental organizations, Mercyhurst College, and the Penn State Cooperative Extension to create a sustainable inner-city tree program that draws on the volunteer base from neighborhood and environmental groups and the Mercyhurst College community of students, faculty, and staff.

Project Partners

• Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies
• Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
• Department of Environmental Protection
• Erie County Environmental Coalition
• Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park
• Mercyhurst University
• Pennsylvania Environmental Council
• Pennsylvania Sea Grant

Work with area farmers to help take advantage of the State Agricultural Preservation or other compensation programs.

Acquaint landowners with alternative preservation techniques, such as conservation easement donations, and the tax benefits of such techniques.

Work with area historical societies to assist in the identification and preservation of important historical and archaeological sites.

Purchase or protect high-priority, environmentally sensitive land when appropriate.

Establish a permanent endowment to meet growing demands.

LERC completed a Rivers Conservation Plan in January, 2008 for the Lake Erie watershed with a grant from DCNR in the amount of $175,000.

LERC has successfully brokered a land acquisition of 570 acres of undeveloped lakefront property with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania DCNR, and the owner, Reliant Energy.  This property is now known as Erie Bluffs State Park.

LERC received a $5,000 grant in 2005 from the Erie Community Foundation as part of the site planning process for the above mentioned State Park.

LERC was awarded in 2005 a $20,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Urban and Community Forestry Council for planning and tree planting in the City of Erie.

LERC  got the City of Erie to agree to re-adopt a shade tree ordinance and appoint a shade tree commission and will work with the City and others to appoint the commission, conduct a tree inventory, create a community tree plan, and help guide the entire process.

LERC  wrote a Planning and Technical Assistance grant in 2005 to DCNR on behalf of the City of Erie and Erie County for a specific linear corridor of open space that has been identified as a greenway and open space network.

LERC has organized a city neighborhood to work with the City of Erie in taking steps to develop a 60 acre parcel known as McClelland Park into a useful recreational asset. The park has gone unattended for 40 years and has been considered for residential/commercial development. It will become part of the above mentioned greenway. Activities led by LERC in this effort included a petition drive, a major cleanup that included 50 college students, and several meetings with the Mayor.  In 2010 a Master Plan was completed for McClelland Park.

LERC was an organizer and major participant in the first local International Coastal Cleanup which had about 600 participants on September 20, 2003.

LERC is collaborating with several institutions to establish a regional Environmental Resource Center that would focus on the integration of conservation with social and economic development through three major programs: Land Stewardship, Municipal Assistance and Conservation Design. Major partners are the four area colleges, the City of Erie and Erie County.

LERC is an active member in the Erie County Environmental Coalition which was requested by Erie City Council to be its advisor on environmental issues.

LERC partnered with the City of Erie to do a restoration demonstration in a city park that replaced non-native trees with native trees and plants to stabilize bank erosion of a stream. This work was done under a Growing Greener grant from DEP.

LERC played a vital role in getting community leadership to take the sport fishing industry seriously and to get them to undertake a comprehensive assessment of its real economic value.

LERC has taken a lead role in coordinating Pennsylvania’s efforts in organizing for Great Lakes Restoration issues as a member of Great Lakes United.

• Tom Fuhrman, President
• Mike Campbell, Ph.D., Mercyhurst College
• Jeff Gault, Realtor
• Christine Hetz, Fairview Evergreen
• Ed Kissell, S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie
• Pat Lupo, OSB, Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force
• Dave Skellie, PA Sea Grant
• Brian Winslow, Asbury Woods Nature Center
• Glen Thompson, Custom Electronics
• Patrick Traphagen, Custom Engineering

The Lake Erie region of northwestern Pennsylvania contains precious natural, historic, agricultural, and scenic resources. The continued existence of the region’s unique character depends on achieving a sustainable balance between the short-term needs of the people who live here, the long-term needs of future generations, the health of the ecosystem, and the area’s economic needs and potential. But despite significant inroads made by a few organizations, a lack of planning in the exploitation of the region’s potential has resulted in the fragmentation and destruction of its precious resources, with little or no appreciation of the consequences. LERC’s members are familiar with the specific needs of and pressures placed on land in our local communities. LERC is interested in pursuing conservation projects of any size or scope.

LERC is a non-profit organization whose central purpose is land preservation. As a land trust, LERC promotes cooperation between government agencies and the private sector.

LERC is qualified to save land through conservation easements, land donations, or outright purchase.

LERC can share information with and help other local and regional conservation organizations develop programs geared to local preservation projects.

The mission of the Lake Erie Region Conservancy is to identify, conserve, and protect the Lake Erie region’s unique natural and cultural resources and to promote sustainable development through research and education. LERC was incorporated as a 501© 3 corporation in 2001 and has been successful in promoting its environmental efforts and quality of life issues in the Northwestern Pennsylvania region in several ways.

LERC is a non-profit land trust promoting cooperation between government agencies and the private sector to protect the Lake Erie region’s resources.

What are LERC Projects?

LERC’s projects promote research, education and sustainable development by pursuing conservation easements through the Lake Erie Watershed Conservation Plan and other projects.

What is a Conservation Easement?

A voluntary agreement between a landowner-donor and a land conservancy, limiting the type and amount of land development, yet enabling the landowner to maintain private ownership. Conservancies monitor the land for future use, regardless of ownership, while landowners retain control and property management rights and responsibilities. Landowners may receive income tax deductions and reduce future property and estate taxes while protecting the area’s natural and cultural resources.

What is the Lake Erie Watershed Conservation Plan?

A multi-year plan based on public input to identify, manage and protect the Lake Erie region’s natural and cultural resources. Encompasses the entire Lake Erie Watershed, including the lakefront, streams, and open spaces, in a comprehensive, cohesive way. Identifies and collects existing information on the Lake Erie Watershed. A part of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Rivers Conservation Program, which provides technical and financial assistance to municipalities and watershed support groups to implement planning, acquisition and development activities.

What is an Urban Forest?

An urban forest is “the aggregate of all vegetation and green spaces within communities that provide benefits vital to enriching the quality of life.”

(http://wcufre.ucdavis.edu/whatwedo/urbanforestry.asp)