By Ed Lawrence, Mid State Trail Association
The Mid State Trail Association's work on the Yellow Creek Bridge was one of 10 awards nationally from the 2014 Recreational Trails Program Achievement Awards. Deb Dunkle accepted the Recreational Trails Program Achievement Award on behalf of the MSTA at a ceremony held on June 11th in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC.
Also on hand to help Deb celebrate this honor were Lauren Imgrund and Vanyla Tierney representing DCNR, Gregory Miller and Pete Olsen from the American Hiking Society, Marianne Fowler and Derrick Crandall, Co-Chairs of the CRT and Ed Lawrence.
The Recreational Trails grant money, which made the Yellow Creek Bridge and the other projects possible, came from the federal gas tax fund for non-highway recreation. Over the past 20 years, this fund has provided money for nearly 20,000 projects nationwide. In Pennsylvania the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources oversees the dispersment of these grants.