On March 8, PEC officially held the first of six regional watershed group workshops as part of a statewide initiative aimed at building local capacity for stewardship.
Funded in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Growing Greener program, PEC surveyed over 250 watershed groups in Pennsylvania to help identify and understand organizational capacity needs in order to link organizations to available tools and discuss ongoing technical and funding opportunities.
Hosted at the beautiful J. Roy Houston Conservation Center in Greensburg — home of the Westmoreland Conservation District — we presented a program with information on volunteer and member recruitment and GIS and online mapping tools. We also reviewed funding opportunities from regional conservation organizations, private foundations, and state agencies.
Over 20 representatives from watershed groups including water specialists from five counties within the southwestern region of Pennsylvania were in attendance. Attendees had an opportunity to share their watershed’s special qualities as well as current challenges. We shared survey results with the group specifically for the southwest region and asked for input on a future statewide watershed conference.
Many thanks the Westmoreland County Conservation District for hosting the event and thank you to our presenters including Deb Frawley, Nature Abounds President Melinda Hughes, Jenifer Christman, Associate Vice President of Watershed Conservation Programs at the Western PA Conservancy, and PEC’s Marla Papernick.
The second of our six watershed workshops will be our Southcentral Pennsylvania workshop, scheduled for March 31 in Mechanicsburg.
Click here for more information and to register for upcoming watershed meetings in your region.
List of Upcoming Regional Watershed Workshops
- Southcentral Regional Workshop
March 31
Trails and Trees Environmental Center
1731 York St.
Mechanicsburg, PA 17005
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. - Northeast Regional Workshop
April 6
Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority
213 South 7th Avenue
Scranton, PA 18505
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. - Southeast Regional Workshop
April 14
Upper Merion Township Building
175 West Valley Forge Road
King of Prussia, PA 19406
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. - Northcentral Regional Workshop
April 27
Schlow Centre Region Library – Downsbrough Reading Room
211 S. Allen Street,
State College, PA 16801
1 -5 p.m. - Northwest Regional Workshop
TBD