ClearWater Conservancy, Partners Wrap Up Successful Stream Buffer Planting Season

With the help of many volunteers, partners and donations,ClearWater Conservancy was able to restore 1.7 miles of riparian buffers in 2008 that will create healthy streams in Centre County. And volunteers are needed for the 2009 program.

 

 

The goal of ClearWater' s Riparian Conservation Programis to improve stream quality in central Pennsylvania’s watersheds. The program educates streamside landowners on the role of vegetated buffers, restores streamside buffers, and can permanently protect riparian areas through conservation easements.

 

When people live or farm close to streams, vegetation in riparian areas is commonly disturbed or removed. This disturbance quickly begins to unravel the delicate balance that once existed between soil, water, plants and animals. Stream banks quickly become destabilized, streams become silted and warm, invasive plant species begin to colonize, and riparian-dependent wildlife disappears.

 

Through ClearWater’s program and its many partnerships, some riparian buffers have been protected with streambank fencing to exclude livestock from streams, preventing streamside erosion and filtering stormwater run-off.

 

The Riparian Conservation Program also provided native trees and shrubs that were planted in the stream buffer. All of these efforts protect water quality and create habitat for aquatic and streamside wildlife.

 

ClearWater thanks the following partners for their dedication to the conservation of central Pennsylvania’s aquatic resources: the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Fish and Boat Commission, Centre County Conservation District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Foundation for California University of PA, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Penn State Center for Watershed Stewardship, Penn State University Office of Physical Plant, Department of Environmental Protection, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Nittany Valley Charter School, and Blue Mountain Quality Resources, Inc.

 

Here are the details on some of the projects.

 

Downstream of Millbrook Marsh, the Sheep Farm underwent two stages of buffer expansion and plantings in the spring and fall of this year with the help of CCCD, PFBC, SCTU, DEP, Blue Mountain Quality Resources, Inc. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Penn State University.

 

The work on the lower portion of the Sheep Farm in the spring and work on the upper portion this fall resulted in the planting of additional trees in an expanded buffer zone. The buffer fencing was moving back from the stream significantly, creating a much wider swath of vegetation along Spring Creek’s banks.

 

Through ClearWater’s Beatty Memorial Arbor Day Celebration, volunteers planted 225 trees, creating a 3.5 acre buffer that is 1,200 feet long and 45 feet wide in the lower half of the farm.

In October, volunteers planted 1.3 additional acres in the upper half of the Sheep Farm, creating a buffer 1,400 feet long and 40 feet wide.

 

ClearWater Conservancy partnered with Penn State University on both plantings. The two efforts were Eagle Scout Projects for Evan Gover in the spring and Kyle Surovec in the fall.

 

 

The Focht Farm, owned by Greg and Stacy Focht, is located on Slab Cabin Run along West Branch Road in College Township. ClearWater Conservancy partnered with CCCD and DEP to install stream bank fencing and also partnered with a Penn State Ecological Restoration class to plant nearly 1.7 acres of riparian buffer along 2,100 feet of Slab Cabin Run. This project also included pasture improvements and grazing plan implementations.

 

 

ClearWater Conservancy partnered with CCCD and WPC this fall to plant a riparian buffer at the Hall Farm on Halfmoon Creek in the Spruce Creek Watershed. Nearly 1,400 feet of streambank fencing and 2.25 acres of riparian buffer were installed.

 

 

This fall, the PFBC Public Access Area along Spring Creek Road also underwent stream buffer improvements. ClearWater partnered with PFBC, SCTU, and students from the Nittany Valley Charter School to plant 125 trees in a previously mowed area. The resulting buffer is 38 feet wide on average, 350 feet long, and 0.3 acres in total.

 

 

Clearwater Conservancy’s final project of this year was to help the Penn State Center for Watershed Stewardship and the Foundation for California University of PA to install a warm-season grass buffer at the Johnston Farm on Halfmoon Creek.

 

 

Sites are now being considered for ClearWater’s 2009 Riparian Conservation Program. If you would like more information about partnering with ClearWater on streamside plantings on your property, please contact Katie Ombalski at 814-237-0400 or send email to: katie@clearwaterconservancy.org.

 

If you would like to volunteer on riparian buffer plantings at ClearWater Conservancy in the future, please contact Katie Ombalski at 814-237-0400 or katie@clearwaterconservancy.org.

 

Volunteer dates and information for 2009 projects will be available this spring on the ClearWater Conservancy website.