Are you interested in learning how to manage your land in a more healthy and environmentally- friendly way?  Come along on a bus tour highlighting six sites throughout Montgomery County that showcase a variety of sustainable management techniques on October 24.

The bus tour, organized by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Penn State Cooperative Extension, and Montgomery County Conservation District, will begin at the Montgomery County 4-H Center in Collegeville, where they will enjoy a light breakfast and optional tour of the native plant gardens that surround the 4-H Center.

Participants will then board a charter bus and travel to the following sites:

-- Black Rock Sanctuary – Black Rock is a 199-acre park that boasts an interpretive trail, warm season grass meadows, a pollinator garden, and wetlands for migrating waterfowl.  In 2011 the park won the second annual PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Green Park.

-- Ursinus College – Ursinus College uses its stormwater detention basins for more than just stormwater management. College courses use the area for practical, hands-on projects and educational opportunities.

-- Mayfield Estates (tentative) – The tour will visit this, or another housing development, to show how you can build homes while protecting existing trees, manage stormwater without a lot of underground pipes, and incorporate a lot of native plantings into the overall neighborhood design.

-- Colorcon – Colorcon’s Global Headquarters and Technology Center is a 90,000-square-foot facility with offices, a data center and labs. The building won a 2010 Land Development Award for its sensitive site design, sustainable building practices and natural landscape features, including a naturalized meadow, planted terraces, vegetated swales, cisterns for irrigation, a low-profile building design and more.

-- Shelly Square Shopping Center – This 80,000 square foot retail and professional center opened to the public in 2006. This commercial development showcases innovative ways to manage stormwater runoff through vegetated wetland mitigation areas that protect nearby Perkiomen Creek.

-- Cuddy Park – This park recently applied for and was awarded funding through the TreeVitalize program to plant a variety of native plants on-site. These trees will absorb stormwater runoff, provide habitat for wildlife and shade visitors.

Professional development credits are available for members of the International Society of Arboriculture, PA Certified Horticulturalists, PA Landscape Architects, PA Professional Engineers and Act 48 credit hours for educators.

Online registration is available for this event.  Questions?  Call Julianne at 610-489-4315.

8/27/2012