Forty-eight projects in 23 states, including 3 in Pennsylvania, will receive a total of $1.1 million in TogetherGreen Innovation Grants to facilitate people-powered conservation action. TogetherGreen Innovation

Grants annually provide essential funding that enables environmental groups and their community partners to inspire, equip and engage people to tackle environmental problems and better their communities.

Now in the second year of the program, nearly 90 environmental projects have received Innovation Grants totaling more than $2.5 million to protect land, water, and energy resources nationwide.

For Audubon Pennsylvania, technology has become a key ingredient in conservation. To get the newest generation of conservation stewards engaged, Audubon Pennsylvania will create a series of online tools and resources for their Audubon at Home program. Their goal? Activate younger people to become habitat stewards.

Last year, a TogetherGreen grant helped Audubon Pennsylvania to begin reaching new constituents through the Bird Habitat Recognition Program, an online property registration program. Building on this success, they hope to further expand this program through online marketing designed to create new citizen scientists.

A key ingredient of this marketing plan is a partnership with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to link bird conservation with habitat conservation through www.iconservepa.org. This partnership will include the development of evaluation tools for property habitat elements, outreach to partners and Audubon Chapters, and grassroots outreach to state and local media.

During the first year of this program, Audubon Pennsylvania conserved 1,000 acres of habitat through their Bird Habitat Recognition Program. Over the next year, Audubon Pennsylvania would like to triple this amount—resulting in 3,000 acres of habitat conserved. Even more, they’ll be activating the newest generation of stewards to keep the momentum going!

For more information, visit the project webpage.

Though it may be the oldest chapter of the National Audubon Society in Pennsylvania (founded in 1906), the Tiadaghton Audubon Society has some fresh new ideas on improving water quality. It will be working to improve the health of Pine Creek with some rather unlikely partners -- mussels and eels!

Pine Creek is an ecologically significant waterway that feeds into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. However, over time it has faced a decline in water quality, most notably because of a collapse in the Elliptio camplanata mussel population.

With its TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, the Tiadaghton Audubon Society will work to improve the water quality of this creek, the watershed, and the bay through the reintroduction of the American Eel. The Conowingo Dam on the Lower Susquehanna River has prevented the migration of the eel northward since 1928.

The American Eel must be present to act as a host for the Elliptio larvae for two months in order for this mussel to begin a life cycle which can last up to 110 years. Increasing the mussel population is essential as adults of this incredible organism can filter up to one gallon of water per hour!

Through a partnership with the US Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tiadaghton Audubon Society will transport the American Eel to the research lab for tagging and then release into Pine Creek. This effort will be supported by local high school students, who will help with accompanying community outreach by conducting and publicizing interviews with local residents about their experiences with the eels and mussels of Pine Creek and its tributaries prior to the organisms' demise.

On “Release and Restoration Day,” Tiadaghton Audubon Society will invite local elected representatives out for a two hour program and a tour of the site with the goal of garnering long-term support and funding for this project.

Ultimately, with the help of some eels and mussels, the Pine Creek Tributary will once again become a thriving waterway, continue to be an asset to its community, and help to improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay.

For more information, visit the project webpage.

An increasing number of Americans are reaching retirement age and living active lifestyles well beyond retirement. Audubon is hoping to appeal to these older adults to take on meaningful volunteer projects in their spare time that are focused on protecting critical habitat for biodiversity.

With a TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, Audubon will launch the Science, Citizens, and Conservation Action Project – in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Senior Corps – to recruit aging Americans to become volunteer citizen scientists. Volunteers will be trained to assess and monitor birds and habitats while also empowering them to become volunteer leaders.

SSCA will apply the citizen science model to real conservation issues, allowing volunteers to gain a better understanding of the scientific process firsthand while working on projects that will improve the quality of the environment and life in their communities.

The first SSCA projects will be piloted at two Important Bird Areas, one in North Carolina and a second in Illinois. At the Highlands Plateau in North Carolina, the focus will be on improving the habitat for Black-throated Blue Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and other high elevation species. Outside of Chicago, Illinois, at a suburban Important Bird Area, efforts will focus on improving habitat for sensitive grasses, amphibians, and migratory songbirds.

This project will allow Audubon to develop, design, and pilot what is ultimately intended to be a national-level training program. With dedicated volunteers and standardized data collection and reporting mechanisms developed through this project, Audubon can better inform conservation actions and better protect some of the most important places for biodiversity in the U.S.

For more information, visit the project webpage.