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"Ethical behavior is doing the right thing
when no one else is watching- even when doing the wrong thing is legal."
~Aldo Leopold
News Clips:
PA Fish & Boat Commission Adds 99 Streams to
Wild Trout List
The
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has added 99 new waters to the
state’s list of wild trout streams.
More...
Smallest Turtle in North America Becomes
More Scarce
The bog
turtle, North America’s smallest turtle, has experienced higher than average
mortality rates over the past few years. More...
Green Roof Proves a Cost-Effective Way to
Keep Water out of Sewers
Green
roofs can be a cost-effective way to reduce stormwater runoff from reaching
sewer systems and causing overflows.
More...
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA
Fisheries Launch Effort to Improve Implementation of the Endangered Species
Act
The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries Service have launched an effort
to advance the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by improving the recovery of
endangered species, improve conservation efforts, and better utilize
resources and expertise to meet the goals of the ESA.
More...
Floating Wetlands Installed at Mt.
Pisgah State Park
Two
floating wetlands have been installed in S. F. Foster Lake located at Mt.
Pisgah State Park in Bradford County to reduce nutrients in the lake.
More...
PA Fish
& Boat Commission
Fish Kill and Pollution Hotline
The
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) is providing a new
toll-free hotline for the public to report suspected pollution
incidents or fish kills. If you suspect an environmental incident,
you can call 1-855-FISH-KIL (1-855-347-4545) to speak with the
PFBC’s Bureau of Law Enforcement. Calls will be received from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Calls after hours will be
directed to a voice mailbox so you can leave a message. It is
important that the PFBC is informed as soon as possible, in order to
evaluate an incident, implement a response plan, and identify the
source. If you feel that an incident is an immediate threat to
public safety or the environment, call 911 or the Department of
Environmental Protection’s emergency number at 1-800-541-2050.
To view a list
of Frequently Asked Questions, visit
http://www.fishandboat.com/faqpollute.pdf
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“Only the mountain
has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf."
~Aldo Leopold
Policy
Updates:
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EPA Launches New Strategy to
Promote Use of Green Infrastructure for Environmental and Economic
Benefits
The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new strategy to
promote green infrastructure to reduce stormwater runoff and pollutants
reaching the nation’s waterways by treating rain where it falls and
stopping polluted stormwater from entering sewer systems. Examples of
green infrastructure include green roofs, permeable materials,
alternative designs for streets and buildings, trees, rain gardens, and
rain harvesting systems. Additional benefits include increased economic
activity and neighborhood revitalization, job creation, energy savings
and increased recreational and green space. Ten cities have been
selected to work with the EPA as models for other municipalities across
the country. For more information visit
http://epa.gov/greeninfrastructure.
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WEF Board Adopts
Position Statement on Stormwater Management
The Water
Environment Federation’s (WEF) Board of Trustees approved a revised
position on stormwater management to protect water quality and improve
the EPA’s national stormwater regulatory program. The revisions reflect
current knowledge from water quality experts to best address stormwater
from a national perspective. The position statement provides
recommendations for updating regulations under the Clean Water Act (CWA)
including a volume-based approach for stormwater treatment, support of
green infrastructure, integration of watershed-based approach into
permitting, and more.
To view the
position statement, visit
http://www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/PolicyandPositionStatements/
Stormwater Journal, May
16, 2011
http://www.stormh2o.com/the-latest/wef-position-statement.aspx
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National Wetlands Inventory Draft Strategic Plan, Conserving America’s
Wetlands for Future Generations: A Strategic Response to Climate Change
2011 to 2015
The Fish and
Wildlife Service has developed this draft five-year strategic plan for
the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) program. The main priority over
the next five years will be to provide data stewardship and conduct
status and trends analysis while emphasizing coordination between
governmental and non-governmental agencies to increase modernized data.
Comments will be accepted until June 21, 2011.
To view this draft
strategic plan, visit
http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/docs2/NWIStrategicPlanDraft_2011-2015.pdf
Comments should be
sent to
Wetlands@fws.gov
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"The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant:
'What good is it?"
~Aldo Leopold
Marcellus Shale News and Resources
For the latest Marcellus Shale news and information sources, click
here.
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Grants
and Awards:
To view our list of available
grants, click
here.
New grants
and awards added this month include:
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PA Falcon Cam Update
This has been
an exciting year for the Rachel Carson falcon cam. The one nestling
was evaluated and found to be a healthy male weighing in at 660
grams. On May 27, he took his first flight and landed on a nearby
building. After flying to the top of the Rachel Carson State Office
Building, he returned to the nest ledge and received a meal. He now
holds the record for the earliest fledge and quickest return to the
ledge.
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/falcon/default.htm
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Photo credit: Shawn Allen on
Flickr.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shazbot/20363586/ |
Link of the Month:
Habitat Priority Planner – NOAA Coastal
Services Center
This
tool provides critical habitat analysis that can be used to make
decisions about habitat conservation, restoration, and land use
planning. This program allows the user to test various ideas and
possibilities in an easy to use interactive environment. Users can
inventory and assess specific habitats or land-use types. This tool can
provide “what if” scenarios such as the impact of new development or
restoration of degraded habitats. Users can then create maps, reports,
and data tables.
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/hpp/
“We all strive
for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness."
~Aldo Leopold (A Sand County Almanac)
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National
Register of Big Trees
The National Register of Big Trees
keeps a record of the largest trees of each species within the
United States. American Forests started this inventory in the
September 1940 issue when they requested the location and
measurement of the largest specimen of a list of trees. The first
nomination was a Chestnut Oak in Suffield Connecticut. The trees
are measured by their circumference at 4 feet height, the diameter
of spread of branches, and the height of the tree. Since 1940, only
three trees have held the national championship status (Rocky
Mountain Juniper, Western Juniper and the General Sherman Giant
Sequoia). There are now 733 tree species in the Register. A tree’s
total points are calculated as the Trunk Circumference + Height + ¼
Average Crown Spread. If you have a tree you would like to
nominate, visit
http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees./
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“One of the penalties of an ecological education, is that
one lives alone in a world of wounds."
~Aldo Leopold
Tools and
Publications:
EPA Releases Searchable Drinking Water Violation
Website
The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an enhanced Enforcement and
Compliance History Online (ECHO) tool to allow the public access to information
on the quality of a community’s drinking water. The public can find out if a
public water system is adhering to Safe Drinking Water Act standards and if
safety violations are being corrected. ECHO also now has a new feature to
identify drinking water systems that have had serious noncompliance.
To access this
tool, visit
http://www.epa-echo.gov/echo/
To view the
compliance search page, visit
http://www.epa-echo.gov/echo/compliance_report_sdwa.html
EPA News Release, May 16, 2011
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/5116771C5AE44EDF852578920063DBBF
Assessing the Natural and Beneficial Functions of
Floodplains: Issues and Approaches; Future Directions – Draft Report
This report
assists federal, state and local floodplain management staff, water planners,
and wetland managers and others access, protect and restore a floodplain’s
functions. The report identifies the needs for assessment of the natural and
beneficial functions, describes methods and techniques to perform the
assessments, provides real-life “lessons learned” for assessment techniques, and
provides advice for future efforts. Comments wlll be accepted till July 1, 2011
To view the
report, visit
http://aswm.org/pdf_lib/nbf.pdf
Strategic Agenda To Protect Waters and Build
More Livable Communities Through Green Infrastructure
The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released this agenda which explains
the activities that the EPA will perform to assist communities in implementing
green infrastructure approaches. The strategy clarifies how green
infrastructure should be used by cities and towns to reduce stormwater runoff
and associated pollutants from reaching our nation’s waters. Tools include
green roofs, permeable materials, alternative designs for streets and buildings,
trees, rain gardens and rain harvesting systems. Green infrastructure also
increases economic activity and neighborhood revitalization, job creation,
energy savings and increased recreational and green space. The EPA has
introduced the first 10 communities that will serve as models for green
infrastructure implementation.
For more
information, visit
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298
To view the
document, visit
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/gi_agenda_protectwaters.pdf
To view the
press release (April 29, 2011), visit
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/3881d73f4d4aaa0b85257359003f5348/5390e840bf0a54d785257881004f96d1!OpenDocument
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Newsletter Editor/Design and Layout:
Lisen Cummings
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