New Fund Launched To Support Landowner Conservation Practices in Northeast Pennsylvania- Grants Available

New Fund Launched To Support Landowner Conservation Practices


Grants Available For Actions That Protect Forests & Drinking Water Quality


February 14, 2011 Milford PA - A new million-dollar grant program for private landowners in the upper Delaware River Basin to implement watershed forestry practices was launched today at www.commonwatersfund.org. Forest owners in three states will be eligible to receive financial assistance for implementing sustainable forest management projects on their property.
“Ensuring healthy forests in the Upper Delaware Watershed is critical to maintaining quality drinking water for 15 million water users,” said Carol Collier, Chair of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation, which administers the program. “We want to support landowners in these priority areas as they take important steps to maintain their forests over the long term.”
The Common Waters Fund will provide incentives to qualifying landowners to implement forest stewardship plans, watershed forestry management practices, and/or conservation easements over the next two years. The first quarterly deadline for applying is May 2nd and the first grants will be made in June. The initial financing for the Fund comes from the United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities. The Common Waters Fund is one of several pilot programs they are supporting, with the aim of linking “forest and faucets” around the country. In the future the Fund hopes to attract more investors interested in protecting sources of drinking water.
“Development, fragmentation, and other issues threaten the health of our forests as well as the infrastructure functions that they provide. More than 180 million Americans get their drinking water from forests,” said Carlton Owen, President and CEO of the Endowment. “Finding ways to incent private landowners to care for their forests today will help protect source water for years to come.”
Grants up to $25,000 will be available for eligible landowners, qualified land trusts and timber harvesting operators for the following:
• Forest Stewardship Plans - Forest owners can apply for funds to have a forester write a new or upgraded forest stewardship plan for their property.

• Forest Management Practices - Landowners can apply for funds to offset the costs of implementing certain forest management practices that will improve forest health and protect water quality.

• Conservation Easements - The Common Waters Fund will provide financial assistance to qualified 501(C)3 land trusts to assist with expenses related to placing a conservation easement on a property.

• Timber Bridges - Logging operators can apply for funds to defray the cost of construction, purchase, or rental of portable timber/skid bridges to minimize erosion and sedimentation on streams in priority areas.
“This is a terrific opportunity for landowners who care about the health of their forest,” said Sue Currier, Executive Director of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, a partner in the Common Waters initiative. “We are looking for landowners who have always wanted to do right by their forests but couldn't afford the upfront investment."
Interested landowners should visit the web site, www.commonwatersfund.org, to learn more about eligibility and program requirements and to download an application. They are also urged to contact their County Coordinator listed below for help with their application. More than two dozen partner organizations are part of the Common Waters initiative, including the Delaware River Basin Commission, county conservation districts and planning departments, the National Park Service, and state forestry agencies. A full list can be found at http://www.commonwatersfund.org/.
Regional and County Coordinators for the Common Waters Fund
New Jersey
Sussex County Soil Conservation District
http://home.earthlink.net/~sussexscd2/
Clifford Lundin, 973-579-5074
sussex@sussexscd.org
Warren County Soil Conservation District
http://www.warrencountyscd.org/
Tim Matthews, 908-852-2579
tmscd@verizon.net

New York

Catskill Forest Association
http://www.catskillforest.org/
Ryan Trapani, 845-586-3054
rtrapani@catskill.net



Sullivan County Soil & Water Conservation District
http://www.sullivancountyswcd.com/
Brian Brustman, 845-292-6552
brianbrustman@liberty.twcbc.com


Pennsylvania

Pike County Conservation District
http://www.pikeconservation.org/
Susan Beecher, 570-226-8220
sbeecher@pikepa.org


Wayne Conservation District
http://www.wayneconservation.org/
Paul Reining, 570-253-0930
preining@co.wayne.pa.us

Monroe County Conservation District
http://www.mcconservation.org/
Victor Motts, 570-629-3060
vmmccd@ptd.net


Other Project Partners
Pocono Northeast RC&D Council
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About the Pinchot Institute for Conservation

The mission of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation (http://www.pinchot.org) is to advance conservation and sustainable natural resource management by developing innovative, practical, and broadly-supported solutions to conservation challenges and opportunities. The Pinchot Institute accomplishes this through nonpartisan research, education and technical assistance on key issues influencing the future of conservation and sustainable natural resource development.

County Protects Important Watershed and Reservoirs in Northeastern Pennsylvania

"County’s steps to protect drinking water are touted

Urban calls land buys near reservoirs from ’03-’06 even more important in Shale era.

MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com - Author

Though threats to Luzerne County’s drinking water from natural gas drilling have drawn the concern and ire of some residents, a county commissioner said the county has already taken steps to protect the drinking water of more than 70,000 county residents.
Times Leader Photo StoreBetween 2003 and 2006, Luzerne County used $4.2 million of a $5 million bond to purchase several thousand acres of property near the Crystal Lake and Ceasetown reservoirs.
County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban, the only sitting commissioner elected then, said the county purchased the property to protect the county’s natural resources.

“With the gas drilling and everything else going on, I think this is one thing we don’t have to be concerned about,” Urban said.

About 40,000 acres of land around the reservoirs was transferred in 1996 to Theta Land Corp. following the sale of Pennsylvania Gas and Water’s water division to Pennsylvania American Water Co. Theta was later sold to a private buyer, whom a Dauphin County grand jury in 2008 revealed to be Louis DeNaples, of Dunmore.
In 2003 the county bought 2,600 acres surrounding Crystal Lake and in 2008 transferred ownership of the land to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The county also purchased about 1,000 acres around the Ceasetown Reservoir and Pike’s Creek, which – combined with land owned by the water company and state forest land – form a sizeable buffer around two of the county’s primary water supplies.

Urban said the development of the Marcellus Shale was not on the county’s radar at the time it purchased the land, but that the influx of gas drillers has made the need to protect municipal drinking water all the more urgent.

He said state and federal regulations protecting water supplies lack teeth because they do not provide for buffers around reservoirs and the creeks and streams feeding into them.

“Our legislators have been asleep, the Democrats and the Republicans,” Urban said. “They haven’t focused on protecting the land around reservoirs. … They seem to act only when a crisis develops. There’s no forward thinking. I think the county was forward thinking in this purchase.”

Though Theta maintained wind rights and the timber rights through 2028, mineral and gas rights were never severed, meaning the land remains off limits to drillers without the county’s approval.

The same is not true of one of the county’s other major reservoirs, the Huntsville Reservoir, Lehman Township, where several private, waterfront properties have been leased for natural gas drilling by EnCana Natural Gas.

Urban said he doesn’t know why the land around Huntsville Reservoir had been developed, but said he supports the county purchasing more land around the reservoir to create a buffer should the land ever go up for sale.

Pennsylvania American Water’s Ceasetown plant provides water for about 67,500 county residents in 16 municipalities, including the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke.

The Crystal Lake plant provides water to 14,000 in Mountain Top and Rice, Fairview and Wright townships."
The above is not my work, the following are my comments:

1. We need to develop detailed watershed management and land developing plan - this would include detailed sourcewater protection plans for all reservoirs and major aquifers.

2. We need to put out signs and train individuals driving truck that contain hazardous chemicals, like gasoline, oil, fuels, etc about the proper response to a leak in these areas.  If possible, we should divert vehicles containing large quantities of potentially dangers chemicals to roadways that would less likely impact the reservoir directly.

3. We should limit land development by purchasing all rights including wind, development, gas, etc.  This land should be put in the hands of the people.   A portion of the funding to protect these lands should come from the Water Company that uses the water to serve residents in the vicinity of the reservoir and outside the watershed.

4. We should establish a real-time and citizen based watershed monitoirng effort and train citizens in the proper disposal of hazardous waste and pharmalogical waste.

5. We should limit the use of road salt and deicing agents in areas that are highly vulnerable to impact.

6. If necessary, we should install detention basins upgradient of the reservoir in cases where there is an activity that may have a direct impact on the reservoir.

7. There may be a need to change the practices of individuals and businesses that currently exist in areas within the watershed that are vulnerable to contamination.

Pharmaceuticals in the Environment NATIONAL DRUG TAKE BACK PROGRAM - Get Rid of Prescriptions the Correct Way - Protect the Watershed

Please be aware that the federal DEA is conducting a NATIONAL DRUG TAKE BACK PROGRAM on September 25, 2010 with widespread participation by many law enforcement groups across the country and in Pennsylvania. This effort will help keep meds from being flushed into water resources. The program is an anonymous take back. To find a take back location in your area, go to this website and enter your zipcode:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/takeback/


Drug take back programs are very expensive to conduct, so please let your neighbors and family members know about this one day national event.  Saturday, September 25, 2010.


On September 25, 2010, DEA will coordinate a collaborative effort with state and local law enforcement agencies to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from our nation’s medicine cabinets. Collection activities will take place from 10:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. at sites established throughout the country. The National Take-Back Day provides an opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications for destruction. These drugs are a potential source of supply for illegal use and an unacceptable risk to public health and safety. This one-day effort is intended to bring national focus to the issue of increasing pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse. The program is anonymous.


Prescription and over the counter solid dosage medications, i.e. tablets and capsules accepted. Intra-venous solutions, injectables, and needles will not be accepted. Illicit substances such as marijuana or methamphetamine are not a part of this initiative.


If you miss this event- this is the proper procedure to dispose of prescription drugs:
 
Source: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf


1.Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or
accompanying patient information specifically instucts you to do so.  For information on drugs
that should be flushed visit the FDA’s website- http://www.fda.gov/


2. To dispose of prescription drugs not labeled to be flushed, you may be able
to take advantage of community drug take back programs or other programs,
such as household hazardous waste collection events,  that collect drugs at a central location for proper disposal.


3.Call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service
and ask if a drug take‐back program is available in your community.


If a drug take‐back or collection program is not available:


A.Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.

B.Mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.

C.Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty
margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.

D.Conceal or remove any personal information, including Rx number, on the
empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or
by scratching it off.
E.Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.


 How to Dispose