Nevada counties, towns get Forest Service grants

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1999 | 2:37 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - The Forest Service is issuing $69,630 in small grants to several rural communities in Nevada to help diversify their economies and wean them from dependency on natural resources.

The biggest grant, $20,000, goes to the city of Carlin for work on a gold mining interpretive center.

Pershing County will receive $18,130 to upgrade lighting at the Lovelock Arena and White Pine County gets $16,500 for its "Home Grown Jobs Initiative."

Esmeralda County is awarded $10,000 for sidewalk construction in Goldfield and the city of Gabbs will get $5,000 to develop a community economic action plan.

The five winners were selected from among 13 applications this year under the Forest Service's Rural Community Assistance program, said Gloria Flora, supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Grants are available to eligible communities and tribes dependent on natural resources to develop strategies and implement projects which help provide for long-term social, environmental and economic sustainability, she said.

"In the last six years, communities and tribes in Nevada have received $454,000 through the program," she said.