Newsletter
Volume 10 - December 15, 2010
Earth-moving equipment works on stream habitat restoration in Centre County's Elk Creek.
Huge Land Donation
WHM Group, State College, has donated approximately 135 acres of land along Bald Eagle Creek, and a $50,000 maintenance fund for the property, to the Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation.
The property was acquired and developed since 2002 by WHM under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as mitigation for environmental disruption caused by the relocation of Interstate 99.
It includes more than 50 acres of wetland that WHM created, employing runoff and ground-fed hydrologies to maintain the ecosystem; about 15 acres of upland woodland; a quarter mile of Bald Eagle Creek, which are multi-use recreational stream stocked with trout; road frontage on Old Rt. 220 and a township road. A few archeologically important sites of former Native American encampments have been protected on the tract.
The site has attracted an increasingly diverse wildlife population, including species from aquatic mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
In the near-term, the Foundation plans to develop wildlife viewing platforms, trails and educational facilities on the site.
Stream Restoration
With a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and assistance from a range of local and regional partners, Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation led restoration projects on streams across Centre County.
A range of stream bank stabilization and stream flow diversion devices, as well as thousands of feet of stream bank fencing and cattle-exclusion devices, to fight erosion and sedimentation, and to improve fish habitat and water quality, were installed on waterways throughout the county. In addition, thousands of feet of stream buffers of native plants, shrubs and trees were planted along the streams. An array of Agricultural Best Management Practices was installed on several farms.
The improved waterways were Bald Eagle Creek, Boal Gap Run, Elk Creek, Little Fishing Creek, several sections of Penns Creek, Spring Creek and Wallace Run.
Partners in the various projects included Bald Eagle Watershed Association, California University of Pennsylvania, Centre County Conservation District, Clear Water Conservancy, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, North Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, Penns Valley Conservation Association, Penns Valley High School, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (Growing Greener grant program), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Quehanna Boot Camp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and multiple landowners.
Seedlings For Schools
More than a thousand schools across Pennsylvania received seedlings through the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Seedlings for Schools program in 2010.
Most of the seedlings, which shipped from the commission's Howard Nursery in Centre County, were part of the Seedlings for Your Class component of the program aimed primarily at third grade students. Each class or grade level received enough silky dogwood or white pine seedlings for each student to take one home.
In addition, the seedlings come with an education package for the teacher. The teacher gets to teach a whole program around trees, environment and the importance of planting trees in your own local community.
The Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation, Waste Management Inc. and Mealey's Furniture provided major financial support to the program. Some of the seedlings also were shipped for the Seedlings to Develop Habitats component of the program, which is aimed at middle and high school students interested in planting them on school or community grounds, or along a stream corridor, to improve habitat; as a tree nursery; or in an environmental area.
Capital Campaign Update
Waste Management Inc. has contributed $50,000 to the Capital Campaign of the Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation. It was Waste Management's first payment on a pledge of $100,000 to the Foundation's $12 million campaign to build a Wildlife Education and Research Center near the geographical center of the state at State College.
Joe Krentzman & Son Inc., a full-serve scrap company in Lewistown, has contributed $5,000 to the Capital Campaign.
The center will house the wildlife research staff of the Pennsylvania Game Commission and facilities to teach about Pennsylvania's diverse wildlife species. It will feature offices, research labs, a library, classrooms, interactive educational laboratories, exhibit space, a theater and a gift shop. In addition, sports competition ranges will be incorporated into the lower level of the building.
State Game Lands 93
With 665 acres already assembled into the new State Game Lands 93, about 2.5 miles from the Flight 93 Memorial in Somerset County, the Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation continues to lead the effort to gather more local property into the public tract.
Watch for our announcements of new developments at State Game Lands 93 in the coming year. But, in the meantime, here's a recap of what's been done to date on the site, which helps to maintain a dignified entrance to the memorial, uncluttered by inappropriate development, and the viewscape from the Memorial. The new game land also protects land that was in the flight path of Flight 93.
The Foundation helped to assemble the 665 acres of State Game Lands 93, including some critical wetlands, through land donations from Waste Management, which the foundation then donates to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
A wetland within State Game Lands 93 has been dedicated in memory of the late Richard Guadagno, a Wildlife Refuge Manager from California who was one of the 40 passengers on Flight 93 when it crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania as passengers struggled against terrorists who had taken control of the plane.
Other organizations that helped with the development of State Game Lands 93 are ORD Sewer Authority, The Conservation Fund, CONSOL Energy and Iberdrola Renewables Inc.
Coming Events
Wildlife For Everyone will have a booth at the Farm Show January 8 – 15, 2011, at the State Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. Stop by and say hello.
The Foundation and Shade Central City Chamber of Commerce will host the First Annual Golf Outing, 4 Man Scramble, at Indian Lake Golf Resort in Central City. The tournament will be held on Friday, May 20, 2011.
Wildlife For Everyone For The Holidays
A membership in the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation makes a perfect gift for the holidays, or any occasion.
The recipient of your gift gets a full year of news and information from a cutting-edge organization that is forging the next wave of wildlife conservation in Pennsylvania, and depending upon the level of your gift, a special item from the Foundation's logo-imprinted merchandise. Those free gifts include a window decal at the $20 level; the decal and an embroidered patch at the $35 level; the decal, patch and a cooler at the $50 level; the decal, patch, cooler and a laser-engraved folding knife at the $125 level; and the decal, patch, cooler, knife and an embroidered fleece blanket at the $250 level.
And, you get the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you've helped the only foundation dedicated to preserving all of our state's birds, mammals and their habitats. Our mandate is simple: To preserve and improve wildlife for all present and future Pennsylvania generations. Our goals are clear: Conservation of birds and mammals; restoration and enhancement of wildlife habitats; bird and mammal research; preservation of our rich hunting and trapping heritage; wildlife education and outreach; establishment of a state of the art Wildlife Education and Research Center; and support of human dimension studies.
The Foundation also added a Merchandise Page to the website. Currently for sale are 2009 and 2010 wildlife patches, a stainless steel bottle, visor caps and a lapel pin. All proceeds benefit the wildlife of Pennsylvania.
Join In The Fun
If anything you've seen in this edition of the newsletter gets you excited about the conservation and education work under way by the Foundation, please consider making a donation to help us achieve even more. For more information, visit the website at www.wildlifeforeveryone.org or call 814-238-8138.
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