Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward Program Accepting Applications For 2021; Jan. 20 Open House

By Jodi Sulpizio, Master Watershed Steward Coordinator, York County

The Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward Program is seeking individuals who enjoy learning, have the desire and time to volunteer and appreciate working with others to improve their local watershed.

The program is offering fourteen training classes across the state in spring 2021. 

Training will be offered in Allegheny, Armstrong/Indiana/Westmoreland, Berks, Bucks, Cameron/Elk/McKean/Potter, Chester/Delaware, Cumberland, Dauphin/Lebanon/Lancaster, Lackawanna/Luzerne, Lehigh/Northampton, Monroe, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and York counties.

The program provides extensive coursework in water and natural resources with ongoing volunteer and educational opportunities that allow participants to make a difference in their communities. 

The Program is seeking individuals who enjoy learning, have the desire and time to volunteer, and appreciate working with others.

This spring’s training will be held virtually via Zoom on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. starting March 3rd and running through June 2nd. Optional in-person field experiences will be scheduled locally with COVID-19 safety measures in place.

In exchange for 40 hours of instruction, candidates must agree to contribute 50 hours of volunteer service their first year, followed by 20 hours per year thereafter. 

Volunteer activities available to Master Watershed Stewards include organizing educational events, designing demonstration rain gardens, organizing stream cleanups, planting riparian forest buffers, working with municipal officials to plant native meadows, monitoring streams for bacteria, and more.

Open House Jan. 20

To learn more about the program, you can tune in to a virtual Master Watershed Steward county open house. 

Dates, times, and registration information can be found using this link: Master Watershed Steward Open House.

[How Clean Is Your Stream?

[DEP’s Interactive Report Viewer allows you to zoom in on your own stream or watershed to find out how clean your stream is or if it has impaired water quality using the latest information in the draft 2020 Water Quality Report.]

-- Master Watershed Steward Program Invites You To Support A Local Watershed Steward Now And During Dec. 1 Giving Tuesday

(Reprinted from the Nov. 24 Penn State Extension Watershed Winds newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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[Posted: November 24, 2020]  PA Environment Digest