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Registration Now Open For Lehigh Valley Watershed Conference With Events On March 12, 13, Main Conference March 14 At Lehigh University

Registration for the 9th Lehigh Valley Watershed Conference is now open for this regional forum on March 14 that will highlight Indigenous connections to land and water resources.

The Conference theme is Endemic Watershed Connections: Place. Preservation, Restoration.

Presentations will address experiences related to access to clean water and healthcare, sovereignty; treaty rights; connecting tribal youth to their ancestral homeland in the Delaware River Watershed; and the identification, documentation, preservation and protection of Ceremonial Stone Landscapes in the Northeast.

Additional presentations and workshops will focus on stormwater and MS-4s for municipal staff and engineers.

There will be a track for watershed volunteers engagement, and technical workshops to dive into topics such as flooding, karst geology, and managed retreat in the landscape due to climate change.

The Indigenous Track Talks include—

— Keynote Speaker The Rappahannock Cultural Landscape Using Archeology in Land Conservation Planning: A partnership initiative of the Rappahannock Tribe and St. Mary's College of Maryland to identify and prioritize lands for conservation, preservation, and acquisition.

— Contemporary American Indians 101: A panel presentation and discussion introducing issues that Indian peoples and their communities face today

— Constructed Ceremonial Landscapes of the Middle Atlantic: Indigenous ceremonial landscapes in the Middle Atlantic region and the challenges of identifying and protecting these landscapes

— Transgenerational Wealth and Trauma: An interpretive talk on the art installation located at Lehigh University that the 1737 Walking Purchase which forced the removal if Indigenous people from the Delaware River Watershed

— The Water Gap - Return to the Homeland: A roundtable conversation on the 2016 film project about the experiences of Delaware Indian youth who spent time immersed in their ancestral homelands to reconnect with their Lenape identity.

There will also be three other free public events associated with the Conference at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton on March 12 and March 13. Click Here for more information.

Continuing education credits are available for engineers. College students register for free.

Click Here for a Conference schedule.

The main Conference will be held in the STEPS Building at Lehigh University in Bethlehem.

Conference organizers include the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, Penn State Extension, Northampton County Parks & Recreation, Nurture Nature Center, Northampton County Conservation District, Lehigh University Environmental Initiative, Lehigh University Institute for Indigenous Studies.

Other partners include the Rappahannock Tribe and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

For more information and to register, visit the Lehigh Valley Watershed Conference 2023 webpage.

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-- DEP Invites Comments On Revised Post-Construction Stormwater Management Manual [PaEN]

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-- Coldwater Heritage Partnership Now Accepting Applications For 2023 Coldwater Conservation Grants [PaEN]