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Hilary Hirtle

Created Wetland and Floodplain Protects Pine Grove from Flooding, Improves Water Quality

Schuylkill County Conservation District

The Swatara Creek in Pine Grove has been historically prone to flooding, with devastating floods affecting over a hundred homes and businesses within the community since 2004. When Tropical Storm Lee dumped over 15 inches of rainfall across the borough in 2011, the resulting floods impacted 90% of local businesses, resulted in $40 million dollars in total damages, contributed to substantial water pollution, and resulted in the loss of 250 jobs due to permanent business closures.

In response to this flooding disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed the Flood Recovery Committee (FRC), a regional coalition that consisted of 8 municipalities, business leaders, and representatives of federal and state agencies who came together to create the “2012 Pine Grove Area/Upper Swatara Watershed Recovery Strategy.” This strategy identified floodplain restoration as on the primary BMPs recommended. This would not only reduce flooding, but also improve water quality and create wildlife habitat.

The eastern side of the Swatara Creek near Guilford Mills in Pine Grove, PA was identified as the site of construction and, in the fall of 2019, work began on the 10-acre wetland and floodplain. The project, helmed by the Schuylkill County Conservation District, cost around $2.5 million in grants, was completed in the summer of 2020.

Schuylkill County Conservation District

Aaron Clauser, of Clauser Environmental who was responsible for the environmental planning of the project, explained that the project design allowed for the use of water from a small unnamed tributary to provide hydrology for over 5.3 acres of newly constructed wetlands that provide wildlife habitat and water quality benefits.

The project has so far withstood tests from mother nature, and the Schuylkill County Conservation District will continue to monitor the success of the plantings, hydrology, and the wildlife structures that were installed. The District hopes that their natural solution to this flooding issue can be used as a model for other communities.

Schuylkill Conservation District is currently working to design and permit a number of other restoration projects throughout Schuylkill County, including two more large projects near Pine Grove. The district is always looking for both volunteers and financial support for its conservation and environmental education programs. Please contact the district at (570) 622-3742 x5 if you are interested in learning more.

State Investments for this Project

  • Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener) Grant: $2,991,000 (Schuylkill Conservation District)
  • Commonwealth of PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program: $2,000,000 (County of Schuylkill)

Dedicated State Investments Aid Northcentral Stream Partnership in Improving Water Quality

Ariel view of Sechler Run, Geisinger campus. Photo credit: Bob Stoudt

For over a decade, the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC) has been partnering with the county conservation districts, state agencies, other non-profits, and willing landowners across northcentral PA to bring the region’s local waterways back to health.  The group, collectively known as the Northcentral Stream Partnership, focuses on decreasing erosion and sedimentation, improving water quality, and increasing aquatic habitat on agriculturally impaired streams.

The partners use proven in-stream stabilization structures, such as log vanes and mudsills, and Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs), such as walkways and fencing.  The in-stream work is done to remove velocity and pressure from the streams banks and re-direct the water to the center of the channel – resulting in less flooding during high water events.  The log structures also provide habitat for fish and other aquatic life.

Much of the funding for the materials and contractors needed to complete these stream projects, comes from the state’s Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener Grants)

Last summer, reliable Environmental Stewardship Funds, helped NPC and the rest of the Northcentral Stream Partnership complete a high-profile project on Sechler Run at Geisinger’s Woodbine Lane campus in Danville.  This was the team’s first time back together at a project site since COVID-19 mitigation efforts were put in place.  The job site did look a little different than seasons past – social distancing and facemasks – but, by the end of the project, the crew built log and rock structures stretching across 1,000 feet of stream from structure to structure, stabilizing the eroding streambank and providing vital fish habitat.

Al Neuner, Geisinger’s vice president of facilities operations, said the project was important to Geisinger because it affects the public’s health. “We kind of take a holistic approach,” Neuner said. “As we improve our environment, we improve everyone’s health.”

Geisinger further helped support the project by providing manpower and tools during construction and followed up by installing a graveled nature trail along the stream.

After construction, Native Creations Landscape Services planted over 400 native trees and shrubs, transforming the previously mowed streambanks into a multifunctional riparian buffer.  These new plantings will help cool the water for the stream’s aquatic life, and pollinators and people alike can enjoy the display of wildflowers come.

Stabilizing this section of Sechler Run, not only helps restore the health of the stream locally, but everything down stream as well.  For this reason, the Partnership’s sustained efforts are currently being used as a model to help improve the water quality throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Thanks to continual state investment into these types of projects through the Environmental Stewardship Fund, the Northcentral Stream Partnership has worked at over 120 sites and impacted over 25 miles of stream since its formation in 2009 – resulting in less flooding, cleaner drinking water, and improved aquatic habitat across the region.

Conservation and You Win Today

Conservation has a win today and many of you helped make it happen!

The Pennsylvania House and Senate have completed the 2020-2021 state budget, which will soon be signed by the Governor. The Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund were left untouched. This means that Pennsylvania state government will continue to invest in conservation projects that protect our land, water, and wildlife, and that provide parks, preserves, and other public spaces where we can enjoy the outdoors.

The pandemic has created huge financial pressures on the Commonwealth. Have no doubt that our collective advocacy made the difference in avoiding severe cuts for the environment and ensuring that hundreds of new conservation projects go forward. Legislators heard our voices and the compelling economic, environmental, and community reasons for supporting the Keystone and Environmental Stewardship Funds.

Thank you to everyone who chipped in.

Andy Loza
Steering Committee member, Growing Greener Coalition
Executive Director, WeConservePA

Morals, Env. & Economy in Sync

Open Letter to

Members of the General Assembly and Governor Wolf

November 18, 2020

 

93% of Pennsylvanians agree—68% strongly—that “we have a moral obligation to take care of our environment.” Whether the focus is protecting waterways, protecting wildlife and natural areas, the importance of parks and open spaces, or preserving productive farms, overwhelming supermajorities of Pennsylvanians find these environmental matters “very important.” These feelings cross party lines; for example, “protecting PA’s drinking water” is found to be very important by 75% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 92% of Democrats.

Moreover, 9 in 10 voters agree that even with the present tight budget, we should still find the money to invest in protecting Pennsylvania’s land, water and wildlife (87 percent agree), that protecting water quality and land in Pennsylvania is critical to keeping the state’s economy strong (90 percent agree), and that it is more important to have parks, preserves, and other public spaces where we can safely enjoy the outdoors (91 percent agree). Notably, there is substantial intensity behind these attitudes, as broad majorities report strongly agreeing with each sentiment.[i]

The numbers demonstrate that Pennsylvanians care deeply about the environment and want to ensure that state investments in projects that support our parks and public open spaces, protect water and wildlife, and provide other environmental benefits continue—no matter the present crisis.

In addition to being strongly supported by the public, investing in Pennsylvania’s environment makes strong fiscal sense. It is well established that state environmental investments provide tremendous rates of return—whether the measure is job creation and economic activity, costs avoided (such as public health and flooding), net tax revenues, or the wellbeing of people and communities.[ii]

The widely acclaimed Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund are proven vehicles for making environmental investments and keeping Pennsylvania communities great places to live, work, and play. Good for the environment, good for the economy, it is more important than ever to keep Keystone and ESF investments flowing. With pandemic-driven fundamental shifts underway in the economy and businesses and skilled workers looking more than ever at quality of life in making location decisions, the General Assembly should be considering how it might increase investments through these time-tested funds.

For more information, please reach out to the people and organizations of the Coalition including but not limited to:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Shannon Gority, PA Executive Director
[email protected]

Conservation Voters of PA
Joshua McNeil, Executive Director
[email protected]

Ducks Unlimited
Nikki Ghorpade, Government Affairs Representative
[email protected]

Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
John Dawes, Executive Director
[email protected]

Lancaster Farmland Trust
Jeffrey Swinehart, Chief Operating Officer
[email protected]

Natural Lands
Oliver? P. Bass, President
[email protected]

PennFuture
Jacquelyn Bonomo, President & CEO
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Environmental Council
John Walliser, Senior Vice President
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Marci Mowery, President
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Recreation & Park Society
Tim Herd, CEO
[email protected]

Sierra Club PA Chapter
Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director
[email protected]

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Tom Sexton, Northeast Regional Director
[email protected]

The Conservation Fund
Kyle D. Shenk, PA State Director
[email protected]

The Nature Conservancy, PA/DE Chapter
Ronald L. Ramsey, Senior Policy Advisor
[email protected]

The Trust for Public Land
Owen Franklin, PA State Director
[email protected]

Trout Unlimited
Jennifer Orr-Greene, Eastern Policy Director
[email protected]

WeConservePA
Andrew M. Loza, Executive Director
[email protected]

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Cynthia Carrow, Vice President
[email protected]

 

[i] TargetSmart survey of 1,332 likely PA voters conducted September 20-27, 2020; credibility interval of +/- 3.0%

[ii] See Pennsylvania’s Return on Investment in the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and other studies in the Economic Benefits section of https://conservationtools.org.

 

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Alert: Urge Lawmakers to Protect the Keystone and Environmental Stewardship Funds

Dear Growing Greener Stakeholders,
House Republican leadership is moving to make devastating cuts to the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund. This presents an existential threat to state conservation efforts.
  1. Please call your state senator and representative TODAY and urge them to protect the state’s investments in conservation, environmental restoration, and outdoor recreation. Ask them to tell their Senate and House leaders that the Keystone Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund should be left untouched as they and the Governor’s office seek to complete the fiscal year 2020-2021 budget.
  2. Ideally, follow your call with a brief email confirming your request and thanking them for their time.
  3. Then call Governor Wolf’s office at 717-787-2500 and urge them also to protect the Keystone Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund.
Conveying the simple message above is the most critical thing you can do. You can go further by describing how these funds have helped accomplish tangible projects and provide real benefits in your community. If you wish to go even deeper, check out:
Thank you for working to make a difference,
Andy Loza
Steering Committee Member, Growing Greener Coalition
Executive Director, WeConservePA

Protect the Keystone & Environmental Stewardship Funds

Open Letter to Members of the General Assembly

and Governor Wolf

Contrary to some assertions in the Pennsylvania House, money cannot be taken from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund (Keystone) and the Environmental Stewardship Fund (ESF) without jeopardizing existing projects and impeding much-needed investments in new projects in communities across Pennsylvania.

The ill-considered notion misses fundamental issues:

  • Keystone and ESF projects support small businesses and create jobs. They are proven programs for stimulating local economies across the state at a time we need stimulus more than ever.
  • Keystone and ESF are starving for funds. Demands for project investments and the needs driving the demands already far outstrip available funding.
  • The pandemic has caused larger numbers of Pennsylvanians than ever before to take to the outdoors. Investments in maintaining our public lands, protecting wildlife habitat, protecting water quality, and supporting other green infrastructure are needed more than ever as visitors at parks, trails, and preserves double, triple, quadruple, and more.
  • The Keystone and ESF monies in state accounts are committed to projects. Capital projects by their nature can take a couple years to complete. If the General Assembly were to redirect any of these committed monies elsewhere, the state would in fact be decommitting from the projects. Under future budgets, the General Assembly could recommit funds to those projects, but, in the meantime, communities would be placed in the impossible position of making major expenditures with no guarantees that the state will come through with money in the end. (And if the state cannot keep to its present commitments today, why should anyone have confidence that it will do so at a later date?)
  • Keystone and ESF were established to fund projects that make lasting improvements; repurposing their funds would seriously damage the ability of these workhorses for achieving community and environmental improvements across the Commonwealth.

Helping Communities Help Themselves; Leveraging Private and Local Resources

The Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund owe their success and longevity to their direct support of community-driven projects. The dedicated funds empower local people and the private sector to address problems at their source, not from afar in Harrisburg. Every dollar in state grants typically leverages $1 or more in additional investments and usually the multiplier is much larger. The Keystone Fund alone has leveraged more than $1 billion in public/private partnerships to complete 5,000 projects.

Unmet Demand

Keystone and ESF come nowhere near to meeting present demand. Half of all project investment proposals must be turned away. These rejections only represent a portion of unmet demand, because grant applicants greatly self-limit their submissions knowing that competition for scarce dollars is fierce. Even when projects are funded, DCNR is only able to fund 85% on average of each request (which are already limited to 50% of total project costs).

The Need

The Keystone Fund delivers $7 in flood control and prevention, water treatment, and other natural services for every dollar invested. (See Pennsylvania’s Return on Investment in the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and other studies in the Economic Benefits section of https://conservationtools.org.)  Now is the time to strengthen Pennsylvania’s dedicated environmental funds, so that they can deliver more, not less, in project investments.

Pennsylvania’s environmental funding needs are huge. Pressing water issues—from water quality investments needed in all of Pennsylvania’s water basins to municipal stormwater management and flood reduction measures—hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars are needed in the coming years. A budget diversion would worsen the needs as it would effectively take money away from communities as they work to address stormwater, flooding, water treatment, and other environmental issues.

Looking beyond water issues, our parks, trails, and other outdoor recreational spaces all have pressing needs. There is a billion dollars in deferred maintenance in our state parks and forests. (See https://paparksandforests.org/initiatives/infrastructurestudy/.)

Workhorses for Lasting Improvements

The Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and Environmental Stewardship Fund are the state’s workhorses for investing in projects that bring lasting benefits to communities across the Commonwealth. They have effectively and efficiently improved water quality, conserved lands important to local communities, and created outdoor recreation opportunities for visitors and tourists alike. Their exemplary track records and the needs they address are described at length at https://KeystoneFund.org and https://GrowingGreener.info.

Conclusion

A portion of the realty transfer tax was dedicated to the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund in 1993 and landfill tipping fees were enacted to fund the Environmental Stewardship Fund in 1999 (and expanded in 2002) in order to reinvest in our communities, redress the environmental damage of the past, and conserve wildlife, parks, and preserves for generations yet to come. Both funds were established with extraordinary bipartisan support in the General Assembly as well as in public referenda.

The decades-long bipartisan consensus on the need to maintain the dedication of the Keystone Fund and ESF—so that they may consistently invest in projects that deliver today and will continue delivering for future generations—should continue to stand.

The Growing Greener Coalition asks the members of the General Assembly and the Governor to reject any proposal that would undermine Keystone or ESF.

For more information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the people and organizations of the Coalition including:

…

Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Harry Campbell, PA Executive Director
[email protected]

Conservation Voters of PA
Joshua McNeil, Executive Director
[email protected]

Ducks Unlimited
Nikki Ghorpade, Government Affairs Representative
[email protected]

Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
John Dawes, Executive Director
[email protected]

Lancaster Farmland Trust
Jeffrey Swinehart, Chief Operating Officer
[email protected]

Natural Lands
Oliver? P. Bass, President
[email protected]

PennFuture (Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future)
Jacquelyn Bonomo, President & CEO
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Environmental Council
John Walliser, Senior Vice President
[email protected]

Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society
Tim Herd, CEO
[email protected]

Sierra Club PA Chapter
Jen Quinn, Legislative and Political Director
[email protected]

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Tom Sexton, Northeast Regional Director
[email protected]

The Conservation Fund
Kyle D. Shenk, Pennsylvania State Director
[email protected]

The Nature Conservancy, PA Chapter
Ronald L. Ramsey, Senior Policy Advisor
[email protected]

The Trust for Public Land
Owen Franklin, Pennsylvania State Director
[email protected]

Trout Unlimited
Jennifer Orr-Greene, Eastern Policy Director
[email protected]

WeConservePA
Andrew M. Loza, Executive Director
[email protected]

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Cynthia Carrow, Vice President
[email protected]

 

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