Senate and House Republicans and the Governor's Office have reached an apparent agreement on Marcellus Shale legislation which includes a uniform, but county-adopted drilling impact fee and a set of more than a dozen additional environmental protection measures.

Noting the six months of inaction since Gov. Tom Corbett's blue ribbon transportation commission released its final report, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) Tuesday joined county and legislative leaders in Pittsburgh to call on the governor to lead on transportation infrastructure and mass transit investment Pennsylvania.

The Western PA Conservancy will receive a $703,525 state grant to plant approximately 850 trees and install landscape elements to control storm water runoff and pollution into Girty's Run in Millvale Borough, Allegheny County.

The Friends of the Wissahickon have launched a new website to make it easier to navigate, provide more information about the Wissahickon, allow visitors to report problems in the park more easily and share pages via social networks.

"Simple but powerful" are the words that best describe the winning photos and captions of the 2011 "Lens on Litter" contest winners sponsored by the PA Resources Council.

The February issue of the PA Resources Council electronic newsletter is now available.  This issue recaps the winners of the 2011 Lens on Litter Contest, Trailgate Recycling Success and the PRC "Don't Be A Litterbug" vehicle license plate available from PennDOT.  Click Here to read this issue.

The Wildlands Conservancy has issued its schedule of educational programs for students and adults for February.  Click Here for more information.

At its 100th quarterly business meeting held Monday, the Fish and Boat Commission approved several property transactions, finalized new regulations for Lake Erie, and awarded two grants for projects on the Lehigh and Susquehanna rivers. Click Here for details.

By Richard J. Allan, Secretary, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

This section gives you a heads up on upcoming deadlines for awards and grants and other recognition programs. NEW means new from last week.

The Fish and Boat Commission published notice of proposed additions to the List of Wild Trout Streams and proposed changes to the List of Class A Wild Trout Waters.

Upcoming legislative meetings, conferences, workshops, plus links to other online calendars. Meetings are in Harrisburg unless otherwise noted.  NEW means new from last week.  Go to the online Calendar webpage.

PA Environment Digest is a supporting member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association, Pennsylvania Council Trout Unlimited and the Doc Fritchey Chapter Trout Unlimited.