The 4th West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Symposium was once again a success. Approximately 110 people participated in the annual conference, held this year at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College, PA, on July 18th and 19th.

Attendance included a good representation of government agencies, academic institutions, conservation organizations, watershed groups, Trout Unlimited chapters, and private industry.

Two dozen people also participated in the tour of the Bennett Branch Watershed abandoned mine drainage projects, in the heart of the PA Wilds region, on July 19th.

A copy of the West Branch Susquehanna Symposium booklet is available online.

Nearly 1,000 people have attended watershed improvement conferences so far this year. (See Links below)

Highlights of the symposium include the release of the West Branch Susquehanna Subbasin AMD Remediation Strategy and the Economic Benefit Analysis for AMD Remediation in the West Branch Susquehanna River Watershed.

The remediation strategy, developed by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, provides an in-depth look at the abandoned mine drainage problems that pollute 1,205 miles of stream throughout the river basin and offers suggestions for the next steps of this comprehensive AMD cleanup effort.

Development of this report also produced a companion interactive tool for the Department of Environmental Protection’s West Branch Susquehanna River Task Force to help in determining not only important discharges and streams for future remediation work, but also those areas where additional monitoring and assessments are needed. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission was funded by grants from Trout Unlimited, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and DEP.

The economic benefit analysis, completed by Downstream Strategies, a private consulting firm based in Morgantown, WV, took a comprehensive look at a variety of economic benefits that may result from AMD remediation work throughout the river basin.

For instance, for every $1 of external funds (money coming from outside the watershed, such as federal dollars) spent on remediation activities, local economies would actually receive $1.36 to $1.87 in local economic activity (i.e. jobs, treatment system material purchases, secondary purchases) – and that is in addition to the cleaner streams that would result!

The report also took a look at sport fishing revenue loss on a sub-watershed basis across the West Branch, property value impacts, and public and private drinking water impacts.

Evan Hansen of Downstream Strategies gave an overview presentation of the study’s findings at the symposium. The study was funded by Trout Unlimited.

Tim Palmer, award-winning author and photographer of 19 books on rivers, conservation, and adventure travel gave a memorable and inspiring keynote speech. His roots in Pennsylvania, not only from being native to the state, but his education at Penn State University more than three decades ago and work experience with the Lycoming County Planning Commission in areas such as Pine Creek, were important milestones for what would become his lifelong love and career of traveling, photographing, and writing about the importance of rivers conservation across the nation.

For more details on the great presentations and presenters, please see the symposium program:

Both the remediation strategy and economic benefits will be available for download on the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition website in the very near future. The website is currently under construction and new additions are being made every week so keep checking!

For more information, contact Amy Wolfe or Becky Dunlap of Trout Unlimited at 570-726-3118 or send email to: awolfe@tu.org for hard copies of the reports or for more information on the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Initiative. (Contributed by Amy Wolfe of Trout Unlimited)

Links: 275 Attend Lehigh Valley Watershed, Shad Conference

500 Attend Keystone Coldwater Conference, Schuylkill Watershed Congress

7/25/2008