The Friends of Tamarack Reservoir in Crawford County were recently awarded the 2019 Pennsylvania Lake Management Society Lake Management Award for an Association.
The award was established to encourage the advancement of the principle goal of PALMS: the development of partnerships among citizens, scientists, and professionals to foster the protection and management of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs.
They are an excellent opportunity to recognize the many outstanding efforts of organizations and individuals.
The award was presented at the 30th annual Pennsylvania Lake Management Society Conference March 5 in Boalsburg, Centre County.
The nomination submitted read as follows--
Tamarack Reservoir is a 562 acre reservoir located in Crawford County in Northwest Pennsylvania. Tamarack is the largest reservoir owned by the Fish and Boat Commission.
The Friends of Tamarack Reservoir, a grassroots group of citizens, was formed in response to an emergency drawdown of Tamarack Reservoir in 2012. A routine inspection of the dam had revealed a leak had formed, and by 2013 the lake had been completely drained.
Friends of Tamarack Reservoir worked with local, state, and federal agencies to find funding to repair not one, but two failing dams on the reservoir.
Throughout an endless series of ups and downs over the next 7 years the Friends of Tamarack navigated the process of restoring their reservoir.
Funding would be promised and then seem to disappear only to be found again, permitting and engineering pitfalls, and ownership issues all could have sunk the project.
Throughout this process the members of the group kept moving forward by organizing activities around the reservoir basin like litter clean ups of the old shoreline.
In 2015 the group won an award during the French Creek Cleanup for most weight collected by a medium sized team.
In early 2019, with construction wrapping up, Friends of Tamarack and West Mead Township hosted a series of public meetings to help educate residents on various topics of interest including the restocking plan, facilities improvement, and habitat management.
The Friends of Tamarack are a testament to what a small group of dedicated volunteers can do if they hold onto hope and continue to move forward using small steps to accomplish a goal.
Visit the Fish and Boat Commission’s Tamarack Lake webpage for more information on the lake.
For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Pennsylvania Lake Management Society website.
(Photo: Marty Miesko (Presenting from PALMS), Karen Lippert, Daniel Lippert, Sue DeArment (Accepting on behalf of Friends of Tamarack.)
[Posted: March 12, 2020] PA Environment Digest
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