Water Recreation
PEC is dedicated to getting people out on the water throughout Pennsylvania. With partnerships like the Pennsylvania Water Trails and Outdoor Towns programs, and grant opportunities that celebrate and improve access to waterways, we work to promote the use of Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams by all. At PEC, we believe that by cultivating a love for the outdoors through recreation, we can encourage environmental stewardship and a lifelong engagement with our natural resources.
PEC supports additional water recreation programs through our affiliate, the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR). POWR administers the Ohio Basin Canoe and Kayak and Pennsylvania River Sojourn mini grant programs, as well as the Pennsylvania River of the Year program.
Outdoor Towns
Outdoor towns bring people together through nature. They are small towns that have strong outdoor recreation assets, like trails, rivers, or proximity to state parks and forests— or all three!
The Outdoor Town Toolkit lays out steps to help towns invest in outdoor and nature-based community development.
Water Trails
PEC works in partnership with the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the National Park Service to direct the Pennsylvania Water Trails Program.
The partnership works to develop routes and access points that promote sustainable use of natural resources, increase and improve access to Pennsylvania Water Trails, and connect water trails to land trails.
Stream Access
Through our affiliate group, the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, PEC supports the Pennsylvania River Sojourns program celebrating Pennsylvania’s waterways, and administers grant programs to increase and improve access to water-based recreation.