New Report Announced On Chesapeake Bay Health. There is good news and bad, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The Bay is showing encouraging signs of rebounding, but is still in critical condition as a result of pollution according to a new report issued today. View these comments on the report by CBF President Will Baker.
Later this week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release its review of state plans to reduce nutrients and sediments going into the Bay and its own plan for Bay cleanup.

Educational Video On Mine Drainage Posted By EPCAMR, WPCAMR. The Eastern and Western Coalitions for Abandoned Mine Reclamation have just published a new video entitled, "Abandoned Mine Drainage: An Epic Tale," to teach people of all ages about abandoned mine drainage and reclamation
If you are sitting there thinking, “Oh no, not some boring educational video about the chemistry of AMD,” don’t worry! They guarantee this will be the most entertaining fifteen minutes of AMD education you have ever received. And you may recognize some of the stars of the show.
It is the first in a series of three short films related to AMD to be published by WPCAMR and EPCAMR over the next couple of years.

Your Vote Needed In Plant A Tree Contest. Through the Odwalla fruit juice Plant a Tree campaign, Pennsylvania has earned nearly $27,000 this year to pay for planting 28,372 trees State Parks. But that’s not the end of the story.
There are $16,000 still up for grabs for certain states, and Pennsylvania is one of them. Visit the Odwalla website and enter PA7000 for the Pennsylvania code. If you have already voted, you can vote for up to 5 more trees.
The number of votes a state receives will equal the number of dollars it earns to plant trees within its parks.

Holiday Gifts - Clean Creek Pottery. Looking for a holiday gift that will please the most discriminating taste and help the environment? Consider pottery products from Clean Creek.
Clean Creek Products, a division of Stream Restoration Inc. (nonprofit), was formed to market the metals recovered in treating abandoned mine drainage. One of the uses for these metals is in ceramic pottery glazing.
Every product you purchase from Clean Creek will not only support the artists that create them, but also helps support watershed groups doing local projects to help restore Pennsylvania's 19,000 miles of polluted waterways.

What Do Poultry, Paper Abandoned Mine Lands Have In Common? Aside from the fact that each produces pollution and waste, combined they may be able to solve one another's problems while providing energy. How is this possible?
The Pennsylvania Environmental Council has organized some unique partnerships do deal with the waste from poultry farms in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. When combined with excess paper mill sludge, barren Abandoned Mine Lands could produce biomass in the form of warm seasonal grasses to support the increase of energy consumption.
The Western Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation recently joined several other interested groups for a tour of PEC's pilot project in Clearfield County to see how this is possible.

(Story By Anne Daymut, Watershed Coordinator, Western Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, published in Abandoned Mine Posts)

Schuylkill Action Network Launches Student Video, Education Contests. The Schuylkill Action Network has launched two contests for students of all ages, and the theme of both is the Schuylkill River.
For the first time, students can enter the Schuylkill Stories Contest by submitting videos up to three minutes long by March 1. The theme of the inaugural competition is “This is My Watershed.”
The Schuylkill Action Network is seeking videos from students explaining how and why they enjoy the Schuylkill River, as well as the many waterways flowing into it.
Click here to watch a video on the Contest.
For the fifth year, students can also vie for a Drinking Water Scholastic Award with nominations due on March 1.
These are given to select classes and youth groups who carry out educational programs or restoration projects that help to keep the Schuylkill River clean.
Previous winners have planted trees along streams, created a campus rain garden, given presentations in their community and more.

100 Volunteers Help Clinton County Cleanup. The Susquehanna River Cleanup and Great Island Adventure on September 11 attracted over 100 volunteers. Over 9 tons of tires and another half ton of trash was collected in 3 hours. The event was organized by Elisabeth Lynch-McCoy and Clinton County Cleanscapes along with a number of other groups. Rich Best, owner of Sunken Treasure Scuba Center, a long-time partner in the cleanup put together this collection of photos from the event.

Maurice K. Goddard Historical Marker. A historical mark commemorating the life and achievements of Dr. Maurice K. Goddard was unveiled September 17 in front of the Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg. Marci Mowery, PA Parks & Forest Foundation, opens the ceremony and guides the unveiling. Bill Forrey, former Director Bureau of State Parks, and R. Timothy Weston, former Deputy Secretary Department of Environmental Resources unveil the marker. Click here for more on the event.
Watch other videos from the event--
Dr. James Grace, Goddard Chair, Penn State School of Forestry
Cindy Dunn, Deputy Secretary, DCNR
John Hines, Deputy Secretary, DEP
Dr. Michele Sellitto, Commissioner, PA Historical & Museum Commission
Ken Wolensky, PA Historical & Museum Commission

Spotlight On PA Clean Heat Plan. At a press conference this week, Sen. Ted Erickson (R-Delaware), heating oil distributors and environmental groups talked about the need to pass the PA Clean Heat Plan to require ultra low sulfur heating oil with a biofuels content.
Watch these other videos from the event--
Doug Woosnam, PA Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Assn.
Kevin Stewart, American Lung Association
Christine Knapp, PennFuture
Ben Wootton, Keystone Biofuels
Jim Black, Clean Air Council

Ohio River Watershed Celebration 2010. Touch the water and be touched by the overwhelming success of decades of hard work to clean up the Ohio River Watershed by joining in the 9th Annual Ohio River Watershed Celebration. Click here to register online.

The Philadelphia Water Department's 20 year stormwater management plan has gained national attention for its focus on above the ground green infrastructure techniques, as opposed to massive investments in hidden tunnels and pipes.
Over time, the plan will transform the city into an oasis of rain gardens, green roofs, tree lined streets, and porous surfaces that not only manage runoff, but add greatly to resident's quality of life.
In a series of seven videos, GreenTreks Network provides an overview of the initiative covering solving runoff block by block, harvesting rainwater, protecting the Schuylkill river at East Falls, street greening and keeping water on site. Click here to watch other videos. And visit the StormwaterPA website for more information on stormwater management and case studies..

Letting The Delaware River Run, Balancing Competing Needs Of People, Wildlife. This new video by The Nature Conservancy in PA discusses the importance of migratory fish, active floodplains and sufficient flow levels in the Delaware River and how biologists are working to determine how best to balance the river's needs with those of the people who live along its banks.

York Students Featured In Chesapeake Bay Local Action Video Showcase. York students were one of 15 groups featured in the first-ever Local Action Video Showcase in the Chesapekae Bay Program.
York High students worked with Stewards of the Lower Susquehanna and York Audubon volunteers to improve the Willis Run Living Classroom in downtown York, PA.
This stretch of stream just above the Kiwanis Lake Important Bird Area provides additional habitat and feeding opportunities for the Night Herons and Great Egrets, while creating an educational area for students and the citizens of York.
The groups’ projects were showcased at the Chesapeake Executive Council meeting on June 3 in Baltimore.

PEC Releases Marcellus Shale Recommendations. Don Welsh, President of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council today released a report calling for swift action on new regulations and greater oversight of drilling and extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation, a major gas field that lies deep beneath much of Pennsylvania.
Called “Developing the Marcellus Shale,” the report challenges state government and the natural gas industry to adopt more stringent standards for drilling and extraction to prevent the kind of environmental impacts that have occurred throughout Pennsylvania’s industrial past.
Related Video
John Walliser, PEC Vice President, reviews report recommendations.

Mine Drainage Generates Electric. The Loyalhanna Watershed Association in Westmoreland County recently hosted a “Turning on of Lights Ceremony”. Besides the unique name of the event, what makes this really special is that the electricity used to power the lights was generated from Abandoned Mine Drainage.
Since 2005, Loyalhanna Watershed Association has been working on the Saxman Run Mine Drainage Treatment and Hydroelectric Project. They faced all of the trials and tribulations persistent with any other AMD project but faced the additional hurtle of being a pioneer in this type of electricity generation.
Recently, they were finally able to host a dedication for this one-of-a-kind project. The celebration culminated with the turning on a string of lights using electricity generated by the flow of the AMD.
This video was published on the Abandoned Mine Posts webpage by the Western PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation and was written by Anne Daymut, Watershed Coordinator.

Rep. David Levdansky (D-Allegheny) joins other legislators and environmental groups at a press conference today to talk about the need to adopt a natural gas production severance tax to fund environmental programs, urge passage of a moratorium on further leasing of State Forest land for drilling and to express their support for updated drilling regulations to protect water quality.
Here are videos of three of the speakers--
Jan Jarrett, President & CEO of PennFuture
Don Welsh, President & CEO of PA Environmental Council
NewsClips
House Yanks Vote On Marcellus Shale Tax
Disagreements Delay Proposed Marcellus Shale Gas Tax
Sen. Ferlo Wants Moratorium On Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Penn's Woods, Stream Buffers, Nature's Water Purifier. Next time you walk through a forest, imagine that the trees are affixed to the end of your kitchen faucet like a large green purifier, cleaning the water before it splashes, crystal-clear and cool, into your drinking glass. Watch this video and see from The Nature Conservancy-Pennsylvania.

A sampler of Pennsylvania birdwatching is presented in this unique video by Pennsylvania Audubon. Learn more about John James Audubon's home at Mill Grove, Pa, the Audubon at Home program, Important Bird Areas of PA and more.

Penn State: Biofilters Could Clean Dirty Water. Biofilters, using plants to clean dirty water from washing machines and other sources, can make that water fit for growing vegetables and flushing toilets, according to Penn State horticulturists.
"Our global fresh water supplies are fast depleting," said Robert D. Cameron, doctoral student in horticulture. "So it is critical that we begin to look at alternatives on how we can take wastewater and turn it into a resource."
"We have shown that with this system we can take wastewater from a washing machine and remove more than 90 percent of the pollutants within three days," said Cameron. "The treated water had very low levels of suspended solids and no detectable levels of e.coli." Click here for more information.

Concerns expressed on Marcellus Shale natural gas development by Olivia Thorne, President PA League of Women Voters. The League just completed a year-long study of the benefits and costs of extraction and looks at the cumulative, long-term consequences. The study is available online.

Local Action Video Showcase Sponsored By Alliance For Chesapeake Bay. Are you doing your part to help your local river, stream, or the Chesapeake Bay in your community? Is your local watershed group, school group, community or municipality restoring a shoreline, replacing a parking lot with porous pavement, planting rain gardens, holding cleanups or doing other restoration work to protect your local waterways?
Grab your camera and send us a short video that shows what you’re doing in your community to help your local waterway or the Chesapeake Bay. We’ll use all the video submissions to create a collective video that highlights all the local work being done throughout the Bay watershed – from New York to Virginia, West Virginia to Delaware – to restore and protect the Bay and its many streams, creeks and rivers.
Entries are due May 14. Click here for submission rules.

Green City, Clean Waters Philadelphia has chosen to implement an innovative "urban greening" and a "green before gray" as a fundamental strategy for meeting the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act to manage its stormwater and improve water quality. From GreenTreks Network on Vimeo.

2010 River Sojourns Set. Eleven river sojourns are planned around the state from May through August 2010. These multi-day educational paddling trips offer an unparalleled experience on Pennsylvania’s premier waterways. This video from the 2009 Delaware Sojourn offers a glimpse of one of these voyages. Sign-up now through the PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers Sojourn webpage.

House Members, Groups Opposed To Natural Gas Leasing In State Forests. Members of the House, environmental and sportsmen's groups this week urged Gov. Rendell to drop his plan to lease more State Forest land for Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling to help balance the budget. Instead, the groups urged adoption of a natural gas production severance tax.
This video features Rep. David Levdansky (D-Allegheny) Majority Chair of the House Finance Committee.
Legislators present included Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-Philadelphia), Paul Drucker (D-Chester), Bob Freeman (D-Northampton) Majority Chair of the House Local Government Committee, Mike Hanna (D-Centre) Majority Chair of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, Kate Harper (R-Montgomery), Tom Houghton (D-Chester), David Levdansky (D-Allegheny) Majority Chair of the House Finance Committee, Tony Payton (D-Philadelphia), Steven Santarsiero (D-Bucks), Tim Seip (D-Schuylkill), John Siptroth (D-Monroe), and Greg Vitali (D-Delaware).
Groups included: David Maser, PennEnvironment, Jan Jarrett, PennFuture, Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, PA Land Trust Association, Jeff Souders, PA Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Curt Ashenfelter, Keystone Trails Association
Watch other videos from the press conference--
Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery)
Jan Jarrett, PennFuture
Jeff Schmidt, Sierra Club
Curt Ashenfelter, Keystone Trails Association
Jeff Souders, PA Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs

CREP Program Promotes Forested Buffers. David Wise, PA Watershed Restoration Manager with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, talks about the value of forested stream buffers and how the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program can pay for 100 percent of the cost of installing buffers and pay an annual rental payment. Farmers and any landowner can participate in the CREP Program and install a buffer.

2010 Deer Management Open Houses. For the fourth consecutive year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is hitting the road to bring deer management open houses to communities throughout the Commonwealth ending on April 10. This video is Part 1 of a 2 part video presentation describing the open houses.
The schedule for the open houses is as follows: March 13- Northwest-Pittsfield; March 20- Southwest-Johnstown; March 27- Southcentral-Shippensburg; (rescheduled to) March 28- Northeast - PPL Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center, Hawley and April 10- Southeast-Frackville. (see announcement for locations and directions)
Watch Part 2 of this video presentation.

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes in PA. Follow Ryan Miller, Assistant Zoologist for the Western PA Conservancy, as he takes you into the field to talk about the endangered Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake in Pennsylvania. Watch more videos from WPC by subscribing to their YouTube Channel.

Value Of Streamside Forests. Studies by internationally acclaimed Stroud Water Research Center have shown that healthy forests bordering streams not only prevent numerous pollutants from reaching the water, but also multiply the stream’s natural ability to cleanse itself of pollutants that do make their way into the water.
On a small farm that is typical of many in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, scientists have demonstrated that a treatment train approach that applies a series of best management practices in with a forested buffer is very effective in protecting the water quality in a small stream.
Watch this StormwaterPA video to understand the lessons learned that have broad implications for the future of the Chesapeake Bay.

DCNR Green Camping Tips. Escape the winter blahs by planning that next camping trip, but with a low-impact twist. In this video, DCNR program coordinator Rob Neitz is your host for an overview of a model green campsite featured at this year’s Farm Show. Click here for green camping tips at PA State Parks. Visit iConservePa.org for more ideas on how you can protect the environment.

Bear Run Nature Reserve, is located in Fayette County in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. Over 5,000 acres are being managed to protect, conserve and restore land and water for the diversity of the region’s native plants, animals, and their ecosystems.
Learn about this unique corner of Pennsylvania by watching this Green Life PA video. Visit the Bear Run Nature Reserve webpage.

Think Spring! Think Natives! Native plants are much different than any other plants. Not only do native plants provide benefits to the environment as a whole, they also provide value to you and your backyard.
Because Pennsylvania’s native plants are meant to grow here, they thrive with less maintenance, thereby reducing the need to water and fertilize them. They also serve as pollinators, attract wildlife, and reduce other unwanted species.
Watch this Green Life PA video for an introduction to native plants for your next landscaping project. Click here to learn more about native plants on iConservePa.org.
Click here to watch a second video on native plants from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Trout in the Classroom. Trout in the Classroom is an environmental education program in which students learn about coldwater conservation while raising brook trout from eggs to fingerlings in a classroom aquarium.
During the year each teacher tailors the program to fit his or her curricular needs. Therefore, each program is unique. TIC has interdisciplinary applications in science, social studies, mathematics, language arts, fine arts, and physical education.
Most programs end the year by releasing their trout in a state-approved waterway.
In Pennsylvania, this program is run by the PA Council of Trout Unlimited, the Fish and Boat Commission and the Department of Education with project grants given to local Trout Unlimited Chapters. Applications for the 2010-11 TIC Program are due from local chapters by February 26.
Watch this GreenLifePA Video presentation.

RiverQuest Provides On-Water Environmental Education Experiences. RiverQuest is a non-profit educational organization that operates a river learning center for students, teachers and the community of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
RiverQuest programs engage students of all ages in hands-on learning while exploring Pittsburgh's Three Rivers. The rivers themselves are at the center of RiverQuest's education program.
A newly constructed state-of-the art green educational vessel, Explorer, arrived in Pittsburgh in late 2008 and began full service in 2009.
RiverQuest's educational philosophy is familiar and time-tested: Tell me, I'll forget; Show me, I might remember; Involve me, I'll understand.
Watch this GreenLifePA video presentation.

Create A Backyard Habitat. Audubon Pennsylvania is an organization that looks to conserve and restore natural ecosystems around the state of Pennsylvania. This organization, through different strategies, aims to preserve the wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.
This Green Life PA video tells how Audubon reaches out to volunteers to help preserve the natural environment that we all share. They look to schools and other public places to help spread the growth and preservation of natural ecosystems. Audubon also educates “connecting people with nature” by developing a network of Audubon Centers and using proven and innovative education programs to promote a lifelong conservation ethic.
Audubon Pennsylvania’s mission of conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, wildlife, and their habitats helps to shapes the Commonwealth’s conservation agenda.
Learn more at Audubon Pennsylvania.

Babb Creek And Pine Creek Watershed Restoration Success. Abandoned Mine Drainage caused high metal levels and low pH in Babb Creek, creating toxic conditions for trout and macroinvertebrates. The Department of Environmental Protection added three segments of Babb Creek to the state's Clean Water Act section 303(d) list in 1996 for impairments due to metals and in 2002 for impairments due to pH.
DEP also added one segment of Pine Creek to the impaired waters list in 1998. Stakeholders have worked to restore the creek for nearly two decades by installing active and passive AMD treatment systems.
Water quality has improved and now meets standards, so DEP plans to remove the three impaired segments of Babb Creek's mainstem from the state's 2010 CWA section 303(d) list for metals and pH. DEP removed the impaired Pine Creek segment from the 303(d) list in 2002.
Watch this Green Life PA video and see how it was done. Click here for EPA success story article.

PPL Energy Efficiency Video Contest. PPL Electric Utilities is sponsoring a video contest on energy efficiency entitled, "Change A Little, Save A Lot." Entries are due January 15.
More than $15,000 in prizes will be awarded, including a $5,000 Sears gift card as first prize.
In addition, the first 50 customers who enter will receive an energy-efficient power strip that automatically powers down appliances under certain conditions to save energy and money.
Winners will be announced in late January, and the winning videos will be featured on the company's Video Center. The Video Center displays some of the company's favorite YouTube videos about energy efficiency.
Customers must be at least 18 years old to enter. Videos must be between 30 seconds and three minutes long. Click here for more information.