PA Lake Management Society Recognizes Winners Of Lake Management Awards

The Pennsylvania Lake Management Society recently recognized the recipients of the 2019 Lake Management Award-- Friends of Tamarack Reservoir in Crawford County and Barbara Still of the Fawn Lake & Lake Wynonah’s Lakes Committee in Schuylkill County

Friends of Tamarack Reservoir

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.

Fawn Lake & Lake Wynonah’s Lakes Committee

The nomination submitted read as follows: “In just the short time of a year, Barb Still has been the driving force behind the newly formed Lakes Committee of Fawn Lake and Lake Wynonah, in Auburn, Schuylkill County.   

She has led conversations and meetings with the county conservation district, watershed groups, and PALMS.   She’s researched volunteer watershed monitoring programs and water monitoring equipment and organized her community members.  

Through PALMS’s C-SAW program, that she applied for assistance, Barb has been working with PALMS to provide general education on lake ecology to the community and to begin a volunteer water monitoring program.  

Barb has also been researching and creating content for regular community newsletters that provide lake health education.  

Although the Lakes Committee only formed in February of 2019, they’ve grown so much and created impressive momentum that can be attributed to Barb’s diligence and devotion to the Lakes.” 

The awards were 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. 

For more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved, visit the Pennsylvania Lake Management Society website.

(Photos: left-- Marty Miesko (Presenting from PALMS), Karen Lippert, Daniel Lippert, Sue DeArment (Accepting on behalf of Friends of Tamarack; right- Barbara Still and Marty Miesko from PALMS.)

[Posted: March 12, 2020] PA Environment Digest