The Pennsylvania Steelhead Association recently honored the Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Fish & Boat Commission, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the Lake Erie Region Conservancy for their efforts to conserve, restore, and provide access to some of Erie County's important lands and waterways.

The awards were presented during the Association's annual banquet, held on November 3.

"PA Sea Grant works here in the Erie region and across the state, engaging in a variety of research, outreach, and education programs, said David Skellie, PA Sea Grant’s Coastal Land Use & Economic Specialist. “Our efforts in the Lake Erie Access Improvement Program is a win-win for anglers, landowners, and for land and water protection efforts. My co-worker Tom Cermak and I are honored to have PA Sea Grant receive this award acknowledging those efforts and collaborative partnerships."

“At the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, all of our work enhances the quality of life in our region. We have protected hundreds of thousands of acres of land and helped establish numerous state parks, including Erie Bluffs, to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas,” said Kylie Maland, Western PA Conservancy Watershed Manager.   “Locally, we protected the 92-acre Lower Elk Creek Nature Reserve to conserve the exceptional wildlife and natural resources that it supports and to enhance recreational access to one of the most important steelhead fisheries in Pennsylvania.

“Our Watershed Conservation Program compliments this work by coordinating with local partners to stabilize eroding stream banks and enhance habitat in Elk Creek, while improving access to the stream from our property,” explained Maland.  “We are thankful to the PA Steelhead Association for the award recognizing this effort to improve these stream resources and to the other honored partners-- Lake Erie Region Conservancy, PA Sea Grant, and the PA Fish and Boat Commission-- and especially to the anglers, who help fund the conservation of important streams through your fishing license stamp purchases.

“We look forward to continuing our collaboration with all of you to be good stewards of these protected streams and nature areas that will provide enjoyment and value to the community for generations!” added Maland.

PA Sea Grant staff have worked collaboratively with the other honorees for over 20 years, along with state agencies, the County of Erie, many local municipalities, and most importantly…property owners.

Through these collaborative efforts, PA Sea Grant has conserved and/or assisted in the conservation of 45 projects since 2004. These projects total 1,737 acres of permanently conserved lands, nearly all of which are open for recreational use by the general public.

These conserved areas include 25 properties that establish fishing, farming, forested riparian and open space conservation easements. Twenty (20) of these easements are fishing easements through the PFBC’s Lake Erie Access Improvement Program.

Since 2004 when this program was enacted by the state Legislature, PFBC (with PA Sea Grant’s assistance since 2010), has approved funding for and closed on 18 fee simple (meaning outright acquisition) projects and 45 public fishing and conservation easements.

These purchases have ensured safe access for anglers to Lake Erie shoreline and 8 local tributaries where steelhead are found migrating upstream from September through April every year.

The total amount of stream frontage obtained through PFBC’s acquisitions and easements is now 25.77 miles.  PFBC and PA Sea Grant are currently working with another 20 property owners whose collective stream frontage is approximately another 13 miles.

Fishing is a vital recreational activity in the Erie region, bringing in more than $10 million annually to the local economy.

PA Sea Grant work with the Fish & Boat Commission through the Lake Erie Access Improvement Program ensures safe access, permanently conserves land, and importantly provides compensation for landowners willing to grant stream access.

Visit the Pennsylvania Sea Grant website for more information on their programs which operate throughout the state.

More information is available on programs, initiatives and special events at the Western PA Conservancy website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Conservancy, Like them on Facebook, Follow them on Twitter, add them to your Circle on Google+, join them on Instagram, visit the Conservancy’s YouTube Channel or add them to your network on Linkedin.  Click Here to support their work.

[Posted: Nov. 9, 2018]

11/12/2018