"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”  - William Bradford, 1621

Historic Lakes

At this time of year, most Americans are thinking about the ship that arrived in Plymouth, MA in 1620. However, did you know that in 1609 a different ship was commencing a historic exploration of Lake George and Lake Champlain, which had been traditional Native American travel routes and soon became important trade and military supply routes for the Europeans? Read Samuel de Champlain's own account of his explorations at: http://www.historiclakes.org/

New Tools and Publications:

County Watershed Protection Kit Now Online

The Watershed and Wetland Protection Information Kit for County Officials is a collection of resources that can assist county and local officials with efforts to protect and restore the multiple benefits of their community’s water resources. The information kit was produced by the Center for Watershed Protection and the National Association of Counties with support from the U.S. EPA and is available online at http://www.cwp.org/wetlands/naco.htm.

National Pollutant Removal Performance Database Updated

The Center for Watershed Protection has updated its National Pollutant Removal Performance Database, last published in 2000, to include an additional 27 studies published through 2006. The updated database was statistically analyzed to derive the median and quartile removal values for each major group of stormwater BMPs. http://www.cwp.org/Downloads/bmpwriteup_092007_v3.pdf 

Pennsylvania Soil Surveys Now Available on NRCS Website 

Soil Information for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is now available through the Web Soil Survey. The more than 20 year effort to compile and digitize the county soil survey maps, capture the soil property and interpretation data, complete quality control and post the data to the Web Soil Survey was completed on September 27. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ 

Thesaurus of Terms Used in Microbial Risk Assessment Now Available 

Federal and international agencies, private sector organizations, and academics use terms and definitions differently in their microbial risk assessments. This thesaurus is a compendium of risk assessment terms found in frameworks, methodologies, and assessments. It provides insight into how various entities use specific microbial risk assessment terms in their activities and helps those responsible for such assessments both conduct and communicate about them more effectively. http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/humanhealth/microbial/#thesaurus 

Manual for Maintenance of Dirt and Gravel Roads 

The Pennsylvania State University has created Environmentally Sensitive Maintenance for Dirt and Gravel Roads, a 300-page manual created for a general audience interested in integrating environmental concerns into their unpaved roads program. Specifically, the manual identifies, documents, and encourages the use of environmentally sensitive maintenance of dirt and gravel roads. It provides insight into using natural systems and innovative technologies to reduce erosion, sediment, and dust pollution while more effectively and efficiently maintaining dirt and gravel roads and gives the users a toolbox full of environmentally sensitive maintenance practices. http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/sensitive/sensitive.html