Mahoning Township heard about funds available for preserving land this week.

Anna Shigo, open space coordinator for the Carbon County Office of Planning and Development and preservation; and Dawn Gorham, director of land preservation at the Wildlife Conservancy, Carbon County, spoke at the meeting.

In 2022, Carbon County voters approved a $10 million bond issue to support farmland preservation and natural lands conservation. The grant is for wooded areas, wildlife habitats, and water resources.

“I would really like to help the municipalities utilize this grant funding,” Shigo explained. “To do so, I am organizing workshops around different parts of Carbon County. This area would be the Lehighton region, and would include Lehighton, Mahoning Township, Franklin Township, Parryville and Weissport.”

Shigo hopes to hold a workshop within the next month or two to help municipalities with the grant.

“I have the perfect property in mind,” Chairman Robert Slaw said. “Packerton Yards.”

“We have actually been working with the county for many years to transfer part of that to Lehighton,” Gorham said.

“Now, if you could transfer that to Mahoning, then you can make it into a park,” Slaw responded. “I’m 100% when I say that Packerton Yards is the perfect project.”