Dept. Of Agriculture Awards Research Grants For Soil Health, Farm Conservation, Regenerative Farming, Spotted Lanternfly Mitigation

On August 31, the Department of Agriculture announced grants totaling more than $2 million to six Pennsylvania organizations for research on issues critical to sustaining and growing the state’s $132.5 billion agriculture industry. 

Grant recipients include The Center for Dairy Excellence, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, Pennsylvania State University, Rodale Institute, Stroud Water Research Institute, and University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

“Investing in research and development helps Pennsylvania battle the effects of climate change and stay on the cutting edge of technology, disease prevention and pest control,” said Gov. Wolf. “We are feeding innovation that advances human and animal medicine, and produces cleaner water, healthier soil, and a safer, more abundant food supply to sustain our future.”

The grants fund a broad range of research aimed at safely controlling spotted lanternfly and other invasive insects; boosting pollinator effectiveness; developing new methods of detecting and preventing animal diseases; building a skilled workforce to sustain growth; and improving soil and water quality through regenerative farming methods

Among the grants awarded are--

-- Pasa Sustainable Agriculture – Berks County: Supporting farmers in setting management goals for improving soil health and measuring resulting improvements — $135,000

-- Penn State University--

     -- Mitigating spotted lanternfly damage through biological control with endemic insect predators – $64,000

     -- Measuring erosion and water quality in Halfmoon Creek in Centre County — $175,000

     -- Measuring the impact of organic soil amendments on plant absorption of lead in urban soil — $74,507

-- Rodale Institute, Berks County: Preparing a skilled agriculture workforce and fostering understanding of sustainable, regenerative farming methods — $500,000

-- Stroud Water Research Center, Chester County: Measuring the impact of agricultural restoration practices on water quality in Lancaster County streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed — $85,000

-- University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia

     -- Developing methods of measuring and predicting methane emissions from dairy cows — $57,500

     -- Developing a method to measure per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in bovine serum and milk — $23,406

     -- Refining methods of detecting chronic wasting disease by odor in deer feces — $65,001

Click Here for the complete announcement.

Find more information on grant funding to support the sustainability and growth of Pennsylvania Agriculture at the Funding and Grants webpage.

[Posted: August 31, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

Wednesday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips 8.31.22

Are You Telling Your Story?

House returns to session September 12, 13, 14

     -- Committee Schedule

Senate returns to session September 19, 20, 21

     -- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events

TODAY 10:00: Virtual. DEP Electric Grid Resilience Plan Meeting. [federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Program]  10:00 a.m. to Noon. Click Here for remote options for joining the meeting.

 

TODAY 6:00: Virtual. PA Organization For Watersheds & Rivers Local Government Engagement Conversation Café .  6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

-- Environmental Hearing Board Rules Renovo Energy Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant Limits On Sulfur Dioxide, VOC Emissions Set Too High  [PaEN]

-- Clean Air Council Celebrates Joseph Minott's 40 Year Commitment To Leading The Council, And To The Environment  [PaEN]

-- Public Herald: Sen. Muth Raises More Questions About NPDES Permit DEP Issued For Eureka Resources Drilling Wastewater Treatment Plant In Susquehanna County

-- TribLive: Plum Residents Speak Out Against Drilling Wastewater Injection Well Proposal In Allegheny County

-- PA Capital-Star: Environmental Groups Launch Anti-Pollution Campaign Targeting Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Mastriano

-- The New Yorker: Could Coal Waste Be Used To Make Sustainable Batteries?  By Eliza Griswold

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: DOE Funds Pitt, WVU Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Projects

-- Erie 2030 District Achieves 22.4% Decline In Energy Use; $4.6 Million In Energy Savings; 14.6% Decline In Carbon Emissions  [PaEN]

-- WLVR: PUC Shares Tips To Offset Rising Utility Costs

-- Tribune-Democrat: House Environmental Committee Hears Testimony About EMP Attacks

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Owner Looks To Move To Next Phase Of Cleanup

-- Sept. 7 Screening Of Hurricane Agnes 50: Life After The Flood; It Happened Before And Flooding Will Be Worse In The Future Due To Climate Change  [PaEN]

-- DEP Advisory: Hearings On Westmoreland Landfill Air Permit Aug. 31 & Sept. 1

-- DRBC: Microplastics Pervasive In Waters Adjacent To Delaware River’s Population Centers  [PaEN]

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer: Microplastics Found Throughout Delaware River And Its Tributaries

-- The Burg: Capital Region Water Board Approves Plan Designed To Slash Pollutants Going Into Harrisburg Area Waterways

-- Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Program Offering Level 1 Certification Training Sept. 8-9 In State College  [PaEN]

-- Expanding Meaningful Environmental and Watershed Literacy With Geospatial Technology Tools And Practice Online Educator Training Starting Sept. 27  [PaEN]

-- Clean Water Is Up To You: Brown Lawn? Here’s How To Really Go Green! - By Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County  [PaEN]

-- Nature At Risk: Your Small Changes Can Help Bring Monarchs Back - By Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County  [PaEN]

-- Lock Haven Express: Sugar Valley Watershed Assn. Hosted Fish Commission Reptile And Amphibian Expert In Clinton County

-- York Dispatch: Cleaner Waterways Top Priority For 21st Annual Codorus Creek Cleanup

-- TribLive: Some Oakland Residents Upset About Trash As Pitt Students Move In

-- Inquirer: PA American Water Issues Boil Water Alerts For Communities In Chester, Lancaster Counties

-- Williamsport Sun: Keeping The Williamsport Water Supply Safe

-- Williamsport Sun: ‘Abundant And Redundant’: Williamsport Water Supply More Than Enough For Customers

-- DEP Took Action On 706 Permits, 95% Within Permit Decision Guarantee Deadlines; Conducted 1,488 Inspections; Responded To 1 Environmental Emergency Last Week

-- WHYY: Philly Gun Violence Leads To Trying Times For Parks & Rec Department

-- Warren Times: Allegheny National Forest Closes Recreation Facilities As Reservoir Levels Fall

-- Conodoguinet Creek Greenway Trail Feasibility Study Meeting Oct. 6 In Cumberland County

-- Vista.Today: White Clay Creek Preserve Builds New Trail Bridge

-- WPost: Gene Editing Could Revive Nearly Lost American Chestnut, Not Everyone Is On Board

 

6th Oil/Natural Gas Spike: True Energy Independence Means Renewables

[There Is No Limit To What Oil/Natural Gas Industry Can Make You Pay]

 

-- Reuters: Analysis: Full Natural Gas Storage No Fix For Europe’s Winter Energy Crunch

 

-- Bloomberg/AP: European Plan For Floating Natural Gas Terminals Raise Climate Fears

 

-- Reuters: World Oil Prices Fall 3% On Recession Fears

 

-- Reuters: This Decade’s Oil Boom Is Moving Offshore - Way Offshore

 

American Rescue Plan Funding

 

-- $11 Billion In Federal American Rescue Plan Funding To PA State Government, Local Governments Has Yet To Be Invested.  What’s Your Community Doing?

 

Other States/National/International

-- AP: U.S.D.A. Asks Farmers - Can You Plant 2 Crops Instead Of One?

-- Financial Times: U.S. Utilities Postpone Coal Power Closures In Clean Energy Setback

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- MCall - Paul Muschick: Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Mastriano’s Choice Of Civil War Garb Confirms What A Rebel He Is

-- Inquirer - Will Bunch: Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Mastriano - PA’s Confederate In The Attic

-- Inquirer Editorial: How A Confederate Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Mastriano Might Weigh In From The Political Battlefields Of 2022

-- Inquirer: Dr. Oz Says Pay No Attention To The People He Pays To Speak For Him

-- TribLive: Fetterman Says No To Dr. Oz Offer To Debate, Calls List Of ‘Concessions’ Insulting

-- Politics PA: Biden To Republicans - ‘You Can’t Be Pro-Law Enforcement And Pro-Insurrection’

-- Scranton Times: Biden Slams MAGA Republicans, Criticism Of FBI

-- WESA/AP: In PA Speech, Biden Defends FBI, Promotes Ban On Assault-Style Weapons

-- TribLive Editorial: There’s Still Real Work To Do Gov. Wolf

-- Citizens Voice Editorial: Combine Gun Safety Bills In Legislature

-- Inquirer: Lawsuit Alleges PA ChildLine Abuse Registry Violates State Constitution

-- MCall: Opioid Settlement Money To Give $2.2 Million Boost To Northampton County Drug Treatment Programs

-- WHYY: Naloxone Mailing Program Tops 10,000 Doses In PA

-- Erie Times: Erie County Sees Monkeypox Cases Double, 6 Now Infected

-- TribLive: Highmark Health Reports $174 Million In Net Losses During First Half Of Year

-- PA Capital-Star: Report: Tight Labor Market Offers ‘New Possibilities’ For PA Workers

-- WESA: In COVID-Era Economy, Lowest-Paid Pennsylvanians Have Experienced The Largest Wage Gains

-- City & State PA: Progressive Think Tank Offers Blueprint For ‘Shared Prosperity’ In PA

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[Posted: August 31, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

Clean Water Is Up To You: Brown Lawn? Here’s How To Really Go Green!

By Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County

Watering home landscapes makes up almost a third of home water use in America, nearly nine billion gallons a day nationwide. 

When you add the unhealthy effects of pesticides and fertilizers on safe, abundant drinking water, lawns have a lot of explaining to do.

After a summer of brown grass and endless watering, here’s an idea – go on a lawn diet.

Quit the finicky mowing around trees and shrubs. You can dig up the sod out to the drip line, or just let falling leaves accumulate and shade out the grass. 

You’ll save on mowing, chemicals, and on raking.

Where the grass really browned out this year, let that area go a little wild. Plant some native meadow grasses like switchgrass, little bluestem, and indiangrass this fall.  

Add a few clumps of Joe Pye weed, goldenrod, and bee balm. And welcome any volunteers that show up, like phlox, daisies and black-eyed susans. 

In a year or two, you’ll have a no-maintenance native meadow.

What about those moist shady areas where you struggle to get the darned grass to grow?  Give up the fight!  

A few native rhododendrons will thrive there, along with tall ostrich ferns, hay scented fern, native wild ginger, and wild geranium. 

Decide where you actually need some turf grass, based on what you and your family enjoy. Maybe that means a patch of lawn for games, outdoor dining, stargazing, or playing with the dog. 

Connect those areas to your house, garage, and shed with grassy walkways.  You’ll have an interesting, functional, low-maintenance yard that’s good for birds and pollinators, drinking water, and humans. 

Did you know that running a typical gas lawn mower or leaf blower for an hour pollutes as much as driving a car 300 miles?  

In the spring, you could retire that old machine, and go to a rechargeable electric.  

No maintenance, ear-splitting noise, or breathing in those fumes — and lots of time saved to enjoy the new peace and quiet of your natural surroundings.

The Clean Water Is Up To You series is published by Brodhead Watershed Association.

For more information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the Brodhead Watershed Association website or Follow them on Facebook.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Association.  Click Here to become a member.

Resource Links:

-- DCNR ‘Let It Grow’ Educational Video

-- Evaluate Your Property For Honey Bees With Penn State’s Beescape

-- Pollinator Gardens: Help Encourage Ecological Diversity In Your Own Backyard [Videos]

-- Gardening For Butterflies: Penn State Extension

-- Planting For Pollinators: Penn State Extension

-- Penn State Extension Master Gardeners

-- Penn State Pollinator Garden Certification

-- Audubon PA: Bird Habitat Recognition Program

-- Chesapeake Bay Sustainable Landscape Professional Directory

-- Manada Conservancy In Dauphin County Offers Pollinator/Native Plant Landscape Design Service [Recommended]

Related Article:

-- Nature At Risk: Your Small Changes Can Help Bring Monarchs Back - By Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County  [PaEN]

[Posted: August 31, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

Nature at Risk: Your Small Changes Can Help Bring Monarchs Back

By Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County

Swallowtail. Spicebush. Red Admiral. Painted Lady. Fritillary. Among all the enchantingly named butterflies of Pennsylvania, it’s the Monarch that flutters our hearts.

With its big, orange-and-black stained-glass wings, it’s the first butterfly children can name. 

For grownups, just the sight of them flitting among the fragrant milkweed on a warm afternoon can raise a smile and kindle memories of summers gone by. Even their pudgy, clown-colored caterpillars are delightful.

Yet, recently, you may have wondered, “Where are all the Monarchs?” 

In fact, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, Monarch butterflies are in steep decline. Over the last 20 years, their numbers have dropped by 85 percent. 

Habitat loss is a big part of the problem. Acres of lawn, pavement,  warehouses and other buildings now cover the natural fields of goldenrod, ironweed, phlox, Joe Pye weed, and other food sources that butterflies rely on. 

Loss of milkweed, the only plant on which the Monarch caterpillar thrives, compounds the problem. 

Lawn-care companies, business parks, and even well-intentioned gardeners who use bug killers and weed killers make things even worse. 

That’s because bug sprays don’t distinguish between harmful beetles and beneficial butterflies. Weed killers don’t distinguish between stilt grass and milkweed.

Climate change, with its boom and bust cycle of rainfall, stresses and harms the butterflies’ food sources.

Small changes in your home landscape can help. Reduce or eliminate the use of insecticides and herbicides in your own landscape. 

Plant a variety of native flowering plants that bloom in succession over spring, summer, and fall to help support all kinds of pollinators, from hummingbirds to Monarchs. 

Set aside space in a sunny spot to grow milkweed, the nursery of this butterfly. 

You may be rewarded with the unforgettable experience of seeing a Monarch emerge from its chrysalis, dry its wings, and take its first flight. 

At the very least, you’ll enjoy the sweet, summery smell of milkweed flowers next season.

For more information about saving the Monarch, visit the Lackawanna County Master Gardener  and the Penn State Extension Monarchs and Milkweed webpages.

The Nature at Risk series is published by Brodhead Watershed Association.

For more information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the Brodhead Watershed Association website or Follow them on Facebook.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Association.  Click Here to become a member.

Resource Links:

-- DCNR ‘Let It Grow’ Educational Video

-- Evaluate Your Property For Honey Bees With Penn State’s Beescape

-- Pollinator Gardens: Help Encourage Ecological Diversity In Your Own Backyard [Videos]

-- Gardening For Butterflies: Penn State Extension

-- Planting For Pollinators: Penn State Extension

-- Penn State Extension Master Gardeners

-- Penn State Pollinator Garden Certification

-- Audubon PA: Bird Habitat Recognition Program

-- Chesapeake Bay Sustainable Landscape Professional Directory

-- Manada Conservancy In Dauphin County Offers Pollinator/Native Plant Landscape Design Service [Recommended]

Related Article:

-- Clean Water Is Up To You: Brown Lawn? Here’s How To Really Go Green! - By Brodhead Watershed Association, Monroe County  [PaEN]

[Posted: August 31, 2022]  PA Environment Digest