Enjoy the Pennsylvania outdoors this May with Penn State Extension and enjoy seven different workshops in multiple counties on topics like Stream Health, Connect With Nature, Stormwater BMP Walk, Flowering Trees & Shrubs, Know The Woods, Watershed Stewardship and more.

The Extension invites you and your family to join our educators from around the Commonwealth to learn something new about your local streams, parks, ponds, forests and more.

The programs, each at multiple locations,  include--

-- Stream Health And Riparian Buffer Walks: Travel along a local stream to learn about water quality, as well as how we protect it. You will get a chance to explore aquatic life, riparian buffers, stream restoration, and wildlife habitat!  All participants will receive a copy of the Roadside Guide to Clean Water - a field guide to recognizing good practices in your community.

-- Get To Know The Woods - Tree ID And Intro To Forest Ecology: Join Penn State Extension forestry and wildlife experts for a walk to learn the basics of how the woods work: different species and their strategies for growth, how forests develop and change over time, how disturbances affect the forest community, and the basics behind some forest management decisions.

-- Flowering Trees and Shrubs Walk: Get outside with the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners to learn more about your local flowering trees and shrubs. The walk will include the identification and growing information of over a dozen flowering plants found in Pennsylvania.

-- Stormwater BMP Walk: Join the Extension Water Team for a walk around several best management practices (BMPs) designed to manage stormwater from single-family homes and medium-sized commercial or institutional buildings. BMPs to be covered will include rain gardens, rain barrels, permeable pavement, green roofs, lawn conversion, and more.

-- Get Outside And Connect With Nature And Your Family: Join the Penn State Extension Food, Families, and Health team for some fun, outdoor activities. If you want physically healthy, well-rounded, independent, compassionate children and teens, spend time outdoors with them. Activities will encourage parents and children of all ages to have fun while playing together.

-- Get Outside With Watershed Stewards: Explore with Master Watershed Stewards the potential effects of outdoor recreation on the natural environment. Discover strategies for preventing unintended impacts and learn how to engage in your favorite outdoor activities while protecting local watersheds.

-- Community Tree Walk: Join an Extension Urban Forester to learn about trees in your community, tree identification along with considerations for growing and caring for trees in the built environment and the benefits they provide our communities. Each attendee will receive a copy of the USDA Forest Service's Tree Owners Manual.

Click Here to learn more about these workshops and get outside!

Visit the Penn State Extension website to see how much you can learn!

[Posted: April 8, 2022]

4/11/2022