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Rich Fitzgerald may be known to the rest of the world as Yinzer Jeff Daniels, but in western Pennsylvania he’s known for his leadership on outdoor recreation, sustainability, and the environment — a record that earned him this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. People and organizations from across the state attended PEC’s 2023 Western Pennsylvania Dinner Wednesday evening to celebrate the three-term Allegheny County Executive, who accepted his award from Cindy Adams Dunn, Secretary of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). In a video recognizing his contributions, local leaders and elected officials spoke to Fitzgerald’s vision…
It took three years and $7.7 million to reverse a century’s worth of damage to Nine Mile Run, a tributary of the Monogahela River and the backbone of one of Pittsburgh’s historically beleaguered urban watersheds. For decades, industrial pollution from nearby slag piles had leached into the stream, while sewage and debris deposited by frequent stormwater events further degraded water quality. “It used to be that this stream was basically just a straight shot to the Mon,” said Dave Carr, a volunteer with the UpstreamPgh’s Frick Park Urban EcoStewards program. “Water would just rush through here, and just take everything…
In September 2022, PEC hosted its third in-person Public Lands Ride event at Black Moshannon State Park. The weekend kicked off with an open house at outdoor gear manufacturer Nittany Mountain Works/Organic Climbing in nearby Philipsburg, PA. The two brands are sewn under one roof in a 100% solar-powered workshop and use USA-made and when possible, recycled materials in their products. The company is a friend of PEC and a great partner in the Public Lands Ride, providing help with aid stations and general event logistics each year as well as opening its doors the evening before. About 100 riders…
A trail is defined as an established path especially through a forest or mountainous region, but trails mean a lot more to people than a route through the woods. They can mean time to bond with family, or a moment to connect with the self; they enable the user to lead a healthier lifestyle, or simply to explore the wonders of nature and enrich the spirit. As well utilized as trails are, users don’t often question how the path they travel came to be. Luckily, the people behind conserving, building, and maintaining trails aren’t in it for the glory, and…
Each year the Northeast Environmental Partners give out two leadership awards — one to a longtime leader and one to an emerging leader — recognizing the importance of engaging a range of advocates in the work to protect Pennsylvania’s environment. These extraordinary Pennsylvanians were honored at the Northeast Environmental Partnership Awards dinner on November 3, 2022. Thomas P. Shelburne Award The Shelburne award for lifetime achievement was presented to Michael Bedrin of Luzerne County, for more than 35 years of service and commitment to Pennsylvania’s environment. He has worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since 1986, serving as Chief Counsel…
On November 17th, PEC hosted the 52nd Environmental Partnership Awards Dinner at the Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia. The evening was a celebration of environmental leadership and collaboration, and the awards recognized a wide range of projects and people doing innovative environmental work in the Philadelphia region. Curtin Winsor Award In recognition of his decades working on environmental issues including surface coal mining, solid waste, and the status of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment, John Dernbach received the Curtin Winsor Award for lifetime achievement. Among other accomplishments, Prof. Dernbach’s scholarly work directly informed the 2013 Robinson Township ruling, which made…
This year, The Northeast Environmental Partners recognized five projects at the 2022 Northeast Environmental Partnership Awards dinner for going above and beyond in forging new connections between their communities and local environmental assets. From new water trail access points to educational murals in unlikely spots, volunteers with Bowmanstown Area Residents Connected (BARC) and the Lackawaxen River Trail were both recognized for their work to better their communities and encourage people to get outdoors. Both groups took advantage of existing outdoor recreation features, like the D&L trail and the Lackawaxen River, recognizing the draw these spaces have for tourism and businesses, as…
On the banks of LeBoeuf Creek in Erie County, a crew hired by the French Creek Valley Conservancy with help from the Montana-based Well Done Foundation is plugging one of Pennsylvania’s more than 200 thousand orphan and abandoned wells. “Every one of these orphan wells is its own little ticking time bomb,” said Curtis Shuck, Chairman at the Well Done Foundation Pennsylvania DEP representatives agreed that the well was a hazard, but the agency didn’t have the resources to plug the well for decades. That’s where the Well Done Foundation stepped in. “Bottom line is, it was about 30 feet…
The Catawissa Creek, an incredibly beautiful, 41-mile tributary of the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, was one of four nominees for the 2022 Pennsylvania River of the Year. Despite the impressive outreach efforts of the emerging coalition between the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR), Catawissa Creek Restoration Association (CCRA), conservation districts in Columbia and Schuylkill counties, and other groups, the Catawissa was not voted as this year’s winning river. However, this story has a silver lining! The excitement, engagement, and interest generated in the watershed community and among all four community watershed…
Great ideas can sometimes take time! The Spring Garden Street “Greenway” is an excellent example, though it appears that vision will prevail. PEC began working on a concept plan for a Spring Garden Street Greenway back in 2010. The project evolved from a prior study that indicated the most efficient and feasible ways to travel across Center City Philadelphia by bike were the Pine/Spruce corridor and the Spring Garden Street Corridor. While Pine/Spruce were quickly developed as buffered bike lanes, the idea that Spring Garden Street could accommodate a protected bikeway and efficiently connect the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers and…
In the Laurel Highlands Conservation Landscape, DCNR and National Park Service frontline staff are learning about what the region has to offer beyond the boundaries of the parks and forests where they work. The result: a more closely networked Landscape, and a better experience for visitors.
The French Creek Valley Conservancy (FCVC) celebrated its 40th anniversary by hosting the 2022 Pennsylvania River of the Year Sojourn on June 11 in Meadville