March was a busy month at the Brodhead Watershed Association. We kicked off our 2022 calendar with a Streamwatch volunteer training session at the Brodhead Creek Heritage Center March 26. Nearly 30 community members signed up to serve as "eyes and ears" of Monroe County streams.
We thank all Streamwatch volunteers for their dedication to clean and abundant water in the Brodhead and Cherry Creek Watersheds.
On March 30, we set out on Woodcock Watch with Environmental Educator Roger Spotts. The sold-out excursion to Sherwood Forest was the first Get Outdoors Poconos program of the season. Next up is the sold-out Glen Run hike on April 16. Registration for our May 21 trip to Buck Hill/Jenkins Woods opens soon.
Secure your spot on an upcoming outing by visiting our events page.
BWA Executive Director Alexander Jackson spoke as part of the Provost's Colloquium Series at East Stroudsburg University on March 23. Jackson presented "The Endless Benefits of Clean and Abundant Water in the Brodhead Watershed."
Click the button below to access the full presentation.To play the video on the ESU media site, click the large play button and then the smaller play button at the bottom left of the player.
Finally in March, we launched our annual Native Plant Sale. Over 60 varieties of native plants and shrubs are available to purchase through May 14 and pick up on May 28. Proceeds support BWA's clean water mission.
Refresh your green spaces with some hardy, pollinator-friendly native plants. Click the button below to place your order.
We started April on a Get Out! for Wellness adventure with the Wildlands Conservancy. Alexander Jackson led a group hike in Mt. Nebo Regional Park on April 10. Check out upcoming events from the Wildlands Conservancy by clicking the link below.
If you trash vegetable peels and apple cores, eggshells, grass clippings, and the like, you’re wasting a lot of perfectly good waste.
In fact, up to 95 percent of stuff that could be composted ends up in landfills instead. And, no, no matter how much we wish it were true, food scraps don’t break down organically in the oxygen-starved depths of a landfill.
Bee kind: Three ways you can help rusty-patched bumble bees survive
Rusty-patched bumble bees are only about half an inch long. Yet they may fly up to a mile foraging for food.
They need constant supplies of nectar and pollen from many different kinds of flowers, starting in spring right through fall. And they nest in the ground, exposed to pesticides and other chemicals that can hurt or kill them.
Is it any wonder that once humans carved up their habitat, the rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) became endangered?
BWA continues to monitor the "Swiftwater Solar" proposal on Pocono Manor Investors property in Pocono Township. This project would clearcut over 450 acres and potentially threaten Swiftwater Creek, Indian Run, and tributaries to Pocono Creek. BWA has formally notified Pocono Township of its opposition to this proposal.
BWA is also monitoring several proposed megawarehouses in the Poconos, and is exploring the possibility of a model ordinance to help municipalities responsibly plan to protect our waterways when largescale warehousing is proposed.
Members of the public can download the agendas and access Zoom information online. Click the links above for details.
All interested parties are welcome to attend BWA's next Advocacy Committee meeting Wednesday, April 20 at 6 p.m. Please email info@brodheadwatershed.org for a Zoom invite.
SPECIAL THANKS
Your support sustains our science-based work.
We welcome new members: Sebastian Mannanice of Old Bridge, NJ, Marykathryn Best of Stroudsburg, Kay Lopez of Stroudsburg, Andrew Porter of Cresco, Frederica Werkheiser of Pocono Pines, Jessica Allan of Newfoundland, and Kenneth Kochey.
We thank our Conservation Partners for their continued support and dedication.
