Showing posts with label Conodoguinet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conodoguinet. Show all posts
Tuesday
Floating the Creek
Looking to organize a flotilla down the mighty Conodoguinet this summer. One of my neighbors identified a source for innertubes - last year Highlands Tire in Carlisle was selling them for $20 each, perfectly good innertubes for either floating or snow, and they'll last a heck of a lot longer than anything available through Toys-R-Us or elsewhere. Might be worth giving them a call. Link is: http://www.highlandstire.com/locations.htm
Thursday
Work around our homes to benefit the environment
By Letters to the Editor, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA
April 18, 2010, 1:49AM
For generations, the common wisdom was to slope yards and streets to move precipitation away from properties and into nearby streams as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, the salts, other de-icing chemicals, stuff we put on our lawns and miscellaneous street drippings and droppings also are flushed into these small water bodies that can poison aquatic life.
Recent memory includes the winter flood of 1996 when a torrent of ice coming down the Susquehanna River took out part of the Walnut Street Bridge. Hundreds of small tributaries draining water quickly from neighborhoods and farms throughout the Susquehanna basin contributed to a raging river whose damage is still visible today.
Altering the effects of large storm events or ice jams breaking loose might be beyond the control of us mere mortals. However, we can have a measurable impact on smaller, more regular flooding episodes. In the last few years, a new approach to rainwater and snowmelt has started to emerge --- slow down the runoff and hold on to precipitation as long as possible.
The Yellow Breeches, Conodoguinet, Paxton and Swatara creeks don't need to be muddy, roaring rages every time it rains. If each of us tried to imitate nature around our homes and worked to help neighbors and government properties to do the same, more fish would swim, more birds would sing and our watersheds would be much healthier.
PAUL ZEPH
President
Appalachian Audubon Society
April 18, 2010, 1:49AM
For generations, the common wisdom was to slope yards and streets to move precipitation away from properties and into nearby streams as fast as possible.
Unfortunately, the salts, other de-icing chemicals, stuff we put on our lawns and miscellaneous street drippings and droppings also are flushed into these small water bodies that can poison aquatic life.
Recent memory includes the winter flood of 1996 when a torrent of ice coming down the Susquehanna River took out part of the Walnut Street Bridge. Hundreds of small tributaries draining water quickly from neighborhoods and farms throughout the Susquehanna basin contributed to a raging river whose damage is still visible today.
Altering the effects of large storm events or ice jams breaking loose might be beyond the control of us mere mortals. However, we can have a measurable impact on smaller, more regular flooding episodes. In the last few years, a new approach to rainwater and snowmelt has started to emerge --- slow down the runoff and hold on to precipitation as long as possible.
The Yellow Breeches, Conodoguinet, Paxton and Swatara creeks don't need to be muddy, roaring rages every time it rains. If each of us tried to imitate nature around our homes and worked to help neighbors and government properties to do the same, more fish would swim, more birds would sing and our watersheds would be much healthier.
PAUL ZEPH
President
Appalachian Audubon Society
From PAanglers.com - The Conodoguinet
The Conodoguinet creek is a magnificent, and diverse fishery, which flows from it's origins in Horse Valley until it meets the Susquehanna river in West Fairview. Weaving a path through gorgeous countryside in Franklin and Cumberland counties, the Conodoguinet is a canoeist and kayakers paradise during spring and summer, as well as being one of the best smallmouth bass streams in the state. Spanning nearly 90 miles of the midstate, running through rural and suburban locations, this creek has something for everyone.
To read the complete comment, please click on the link that follows:
To read the complete comment, please click on the link that follows:
Pennsylvania DEP to Begin Black Fly Spray Program
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 15 –
More than 1,500 Miles of Waterways to be Monitored, Treated
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recent mild weather has prompted an early start to the Department of Environmental Protection's black fly spray program, an annual effort to limit the number of gnats that pose a nuisance during outdoor activities.
"It is an annual rite of spring in Pennsylvania," said DEP Secretary John Hanger. "The warm weather is an invitation for everyone to venture outdoors and enjoy our state's natural beauty. Unfortunately, the pesky black flies, also known as gnats, are starting to emerge, too. Because of the unseasonably warm temperatures we experienced in recent weeks, eggs have hatched and larvae are developing rapidly. This has prompted DEP to begin the spraying program a bit earlier than usual."
Hanger said spraying will begin on Friday, April 16. This year, 46 rivers and streams spanning more than 1,500 miles in 32 counties will be monitored and treated as needed.
To read the complete story, please click on the link below to take you to the source document:
More than 1,500 Miles of Waterways to be Monitored, Treated
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Recent mild weather has prompted an early start to the Department of Environmental Protection's black fly spray program, an annual effort to limit the number of gnats that pose a nuisance during outdoor activities.
"It is an annual rite of spring in Pennsylvania," said DEP Secretary John Hanger. "The warm weather is an invitation for everyone to venture outdoors and enjoy our state's natural beauty. Unfortunately, the pesky black flies, also known as gnats, are starting to emerge, too. Because of the unseasonably warm temperatures we experienced in recent weeks, eggs have hatched and larvae are developing rapidly. This has prompted DEP to begin the spraying program a bit earlier than usual."
Hanger said spraying will begin on Friday, April 16. This year, 46 rivers and streams spanning more than 1,500 miles in 32 counties will be monitored and treated as needed.
To read the complete story, please click on the link below to take you to the source document:
Friday
Creek Cleanup May 15
On, Saturday, May 15th, from 8:45 until noonish, the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association and the Mechanicsburg Area Environmental Club will be hosting their first creek cleanup of 2010.
Please mark your calendar. We need all of the help that we can get. Consider inviting your friends.
We will start off in 2010 by cleaning the section of the Conodoguinet Creek between a log cabin 100 yards downstream from the Rich Valley Golf/ I81Bridge. We will exit on Beechcliff Drive.
Before 8:45, we will park our vehicles and assemble by the Willow Mill Park pavilion. Vans will then transport all volunteers to the “entry point”. Upon completion, the vans will drive us back to our vehicles in Willow Mill Park.
Directions to the Willow Mill Park Pavilion: Take Route 114 north from the Carlisle Pike. After the first traffic light, get in the left lane. At the 2nd traffic light turn left onto Willow Mill Park Road. Proceed to the stop sign at the old mill. Keep right. After passing the mill, stay to your right. Enter the park. Continue staying to the right.
If the pavilion is rented that day, we will ask you to park beyond the pavilion in the grass.
Consider wearing sturdy creek shoes, sun block, a hat with a visor, and appropriate gloves. The objects in the water and the creek's shale bed can be dangerously sharp.
Please ask others to help out! This is a very worthwhile/satisfying way to spend your best Saturday morning, ever.
See you on May 15th in the creek.
Paul Garrett, creek cleanup leader; (h) 737-2554, (c) 514-3546, e-mail paulgarrett40@comcast.net.
P.S. Reminder that Paul Garrett will be out of town for the June cleanup. Someone else can head it up or we skip to July. Please keep me in the loop, as you make that decision.
Please mark your calendar. We need all of the help that we can get. Consider inviting your friends.
We will start off in 2010 by cleaning the section of the Conodoguinet Creek between a log cabin 100 yards downstream from the Rich Valley Golf/ I81Bridge. We will exit on Beechcliff Drive.
Before 8:45, we will park our vehicles and assemble by the Willow Mill Park pavilion. Vans will then transport all volunteers to the “entry point”. Upon completion, the vans will drive us back to our vehicles in Willow Mill Park.
Directions to the Willow Mill Park Pavilion: Take Route 114 north from the Carlisle Pike. After the first traffic light, get in the left lane. At the 2nd traffic light turn left onto Willow Mill Park Road. Proceed to the stop sign at the old mill. Keep right. After passing the mill, stay to your right. Enter the park. Continue staying to the right.
If the pavilion is rented that day, we will ask you to park beyond the pavilion in the grass.
Consider wearing sturdy creek shoes, sun block, a hat with a visor, and appropriate gloves. The objects in the water and the creek's shale bed can be dangerously sharp.
Please ask others to help out! This is a very worthwhile/satisfying way to spend your best Saturday morning, ever.
See you on May 15th in the creek.
Paul Garrett, creek cleanup leader; (h) 737-2554, (c) 514-3546, e-mail paulgarrett40@comcast.net.
P.S. Reminder that Paul Garrett will be out of town for the June cleanup. Someone else can head it up or we skip to July. Please keep me in the loop, as you make that decision.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Friday
Hydrologic Information
If you've never visited it before you might want to check out:
where you can learn all kinds of interesting things about the Creek.
Sunday
Thursday
Appalachian Trail Museum Opening on June 5
My friends at the Cumberland County Visitors Bureau just alerted me to this interesting opportunity for those who appreciate the outdoors. The Trail crosses and runs along the Creek at at least one point (Bernheisel Bridge area).
CARLISLE, PA (March 18, 2010) - Midway along the 2,147-mile long Appalachian Trail between Maine and Georgia is a beautiful stone grist mill that is being restored. Once restoration is completed, it will be opened as the trail's official museum -- a tribute to the more than 9,000 hikers who have hiked the AT from start to finish and thousands of others who have enjoyed hiking portions of it. The museum opening will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, 2010, in Gardners, Pennsylvania, roughly 15 miles west of historic Gettysburg and eight miles from Interstate 81. Pine Grove State Park is the museum's neighbor. Both are on Pennsylvania Route 233, off U.S. 30 (Lincoln Highway).
The possibilities for stories are extensive -- history, travel, backpacking, conservation, families, fitness, outdoors, photography and even fashion. The museum website is www.atmuseum.org. You also may be interested in talking with Larry Luxenberg, author of Walking the Appalachian Trail and president of the Appalachian Trail Museum Society.
CARLISLE, PA (March 18, 2010) - Midway along the 2,147-mile long Appalachian Trail between Maine and Georgia is a beautiful stone grist mill that is being restored. Once restoration is completed, it will be opened as the trail's official museum -- a tribute to the more than 9,000 hikers who have hiked the AT from start to finish and thousands of others who have enjoyed hiking portions of it. The museum opening will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, 2010, in Gardners, Pennsylvania, roughly 15 miles west of historic Gettysburg and eight miles from Interstate 81. Pine Grove State Park is the museum's neighbor. Both are on Pennsylvania Route 233, off U.S. 30 (Lincoln Highway).
The possibilities for stories are extensive -- history, travel, backpacking, conservation, families, fitness, outdoors, photography and even fashion. The museum website is www.atmuseum.org. You also may be interested in talking with Larry Luxenberg, author of Walking the Appalachian Trail and president of the Appalachian Trail Museum Society.
Tuesday
"Possum Watch
Friends of the Conodoguinet might be interested to know about this special group/effort. Click on the link below to access a recent newsletter.
Friday
What would you like in your water?
What would you like in your water?
Lemon? Perhaps. But you are likely to get much more. Sewage from overtaxed and outdated sewer systems. Runoff from city streets. Excess fertilizer from suburban lawns. Manure from farm animals. All of this runs into our rivers and streams and, for much of the state, eventually winds up in the Chesapeake Bay.
It's actually pretty amazing that our sewage treatment plants are able to clean up our water so that it's drinkable. But we haven't been able to protect our rivers and streams for swimming and boating, and fish are getting scarce. And the further downstream you go, the worse the problems are.
Getting the Chesapeake Bay healthy again means we have to restore the health of the Juniata, Conodoguinet, Octoraro, Loyalsock and Susquehanna rivers and their tributaries, which flow into the Bay. It's going to take work and targeted investments, but the payoff will be felt throughout the Pennsylvania, and all the way down to the Bay.
This problem isn't new. In fact, our entire region has been promising to fix it for more than 25 years. Unfortunately, those promises have mostly just been promises, without much action. And the Chesapeake Bay and all the waters leading into it have gotten dirtier and dirtier.
For too many years, different groups and different regions played the blame game rather than taking responsibility for the harm they caused to the Bay. Those finger pointing days are now over, and there are three new strategies and new funding so that everyone can take this issue on. And rather than rely on promises, the new strategies provide incentives to do the right thing, and penalties for those who don't.
First off, the federal courts have stepped in. There is now a court ordered plan - everyone must go on a pollution diet. All of the states must develop a plan (called a Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL) by the end of this year, showing how and where they will cut pollution to avoid going over their pollution cap.
Second, the Obama Administration has issued an Executive Order requiring all the departments of the federal government to develop a far-reaching strategy to protect and improve the Chesapeake Bay. This includes increasing public access, protecting natural resources, improving water quality, adapting to climate change.
Finally, there is comprehensive legislation in Congress that will give everyone involved in fixing the problem much of the funding needed to actually clean up our waters. The Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act, introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin and Rep. Elijah Cummings to expand the Chesapeake Bay cleanup program, will help us stay on our the court-ordered TMDL pollution diet. The bill makes everyone involved accountable for cleanup, and provides federal oversight for restoring clean water in our region. It also uses a market- based approach, rewarding those who meet the pollution reduction goals, and provides $1.5 billion in funding and technical assistance to our farmers and municipalities in order to meet the cleanup goals mandated under the court-ordered TMDL. Unfortunately, no member of the Pennsylvania delegation has agreed to cosponsor this legislation - yet.
The fact is, the TMDL pollution diet is coming, whether this legislation is passed or not. Signing on to the bill will mean we get the funding we desperately need to comply with the courts' order. With it, we'll get technical assistance, but without it, we're on our own. Supporting the bill seems like a no-brainer to us.
After all, wouldn't it be nice to know that the only thing in your water is lemon?
http://www.pennfuture.org/media_pff_detail.aspx?MediaID=1120&Home=Y
Anxious to Get On The Water
Stumbled upon this post in another water lover's blog (link at bottom of page). Reading it makes me want to do the same.......
Test Float On The Conodoguinet
March 4, 2010
By Perry
This summer I’m hoping to paddle the length of The Susquehanna River starting just north of PA’s New York border and finishing more than 300 miles later where the river feeds into The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. I hope to do it in about a week. That will require me being in my kayak for 12ish hours covering about 50 miles a day. While backpacking I hike for 12 hours a day, but this is different, I have no clue if I can sit on my butt and paddle for that length of time so I’ve planned some test/training floats to see how it goes. The weatherman is promising 50° this weekend so my test float planned for the 27th has been moved up(my spring fever helped with the date change too).
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 49. North wind around 10 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.
The Conodoguinet Creek bends through Cumberland County eventually dumping into The Susquehanna River at West Fairview, PA.
I see the creek every day on my work commute and it looks to be running fast and high, which is cool. I’ll put in near Carlisle, PA, cutting the trip short slightly but avoiding a dam that would require a difficult portage. The trip will be just shy of 37 miles adding a little more if I continue down the Susquehanna to City Island. I’ll make that decision as I get closer to West Fairview, based on daylight and fatigue.
It’ll be cold in the morning and the water will be cold all day. I don’t own a wet suit, but I’ve amassed some water proof gear to keep me dry and warm. Today the UPS man brought a sprayskirt, the last tool I needed to facilitate the trip. It fits my Wilderness Systems Pungo 140 like a glove (in fact it was damned hard to get on the boat – tight as a drum), keeping the water out of the boat and keeping me dryer and warmer.
I hope to be Tweeting, Facebooking and blogging along the way – we’ll see how well my fingers work on my phone while wearing neoprene gloves – stay tuned.
Perry
http://perryzipcrew.com/zip-blog/?p=47
Test Float On The Conodoguinet
March 4, 2010
By Perry
This summer I’m hoping to paddle the length of The Susquehanna River starting just north of PA’s New York border and finishing more than 300 miles later where the river feeds into The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. I hope to do it in about a week. That will require me being in my kayak for 12ish hours covering about 50 miles a day. While backpacking I hike for 12 hours a day, but this is different, I have no clue if I can sit on my butt and paddle for that length of time so I’ve planned some test/training floats to see how it goes. The weatherman is promising 50° this weekend so my test float planned for the 27th has been moved up(my spring fever helped with the date change too).
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 49. North wind around 10 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50.
The Conodoguinet Creek bends through Cumberland County eventually dumping into The Susquehanna River at West Fairview, PA.
I see the creek every day on my work commute and it looks to be running fast and high, which is cool. I’ll put in near Carlisle, PA, cutting the trip short slightly but avoiding a dam that would require a difficult portage. The trip will be just shy of 37 miles adding a little more if I continue down the Susquehanna to City Island. I’ll make that decision as I get closer to West Fairview, based on daylight and fatigue.
It’ll be cold in the morning and the water will be cold all day. I don’t own a wet suit, but I’ve amassed some water proof gear to keep me dry and warm. Today the UPS man brought a sprayskirt, the last tool I needed to facilitate the trip. It fits my Wilderness Systems Pungo 140 like a glove (in fact it was damned hard to get on the boat – tight as a drum), keeping the water out of the boat and keeping me dryer and warmer.
I hope to be Tweeting, Facebooking and blogging along the way – we’ll see how well my fingers work on my phone while wearing neoprene gloves – stay tuned.
Perry
http://perryzipcrew.com/zip-blog/?p=47
Thursday
Wednesday
A small bridge over the Conodoguinet Creek, north of Carlisle, has become a symbol here in Pennsylvania.
Stimulus Plan Marks One-Year Anniversary; Governor Unveils Completed Bridge
Michael Gorsegner Staff reporter
6:32 AM EST, February 17, 2010
NORTH MIDDLETON TOWNSHIP, CUMBERLAND COUNTY - Governor Ed Rendell will make a stop at a Cumberland County bridge today, highlighting the work being done with the federal stimulus plan. The plan, pumping billions of dollars in to the nation's economy in hopes of turning things around.
A small bridge over the Conodoguinet Creek, north of Carlisle, has become a symbol here in Pennsylvania. It's a symbol of the money being pumped in to the state from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Now, that symbol will get its full blessing today from Governor Rendell. A sign, he hopes, the economy is getting better.
This was the Route 34 bridge just 8 months ago, under construction and getting a much needed facelift. Today, the bridge is open to traffic and officials say, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the reason why.
"The recovery act is working. The recovery act is working. It's laying foundation for long term growth for tomorrow," said Vice-President Joe Biden during a stop in Michigan yesterday.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the $787 billion plan. It takes federal money, infusing it into state projects, like the Route 34 bridge. The idea, invest money in to America's infrastructure while creating new jobs.
"Because of the recovery funding, we are able to replace this bridge right now," said Governor Ed Rendell back in June, when Vice-President Joe Biden made his second stop to the Route 34 bridge.
The two touted the construction project as a perfect example of the stimulus money at work. The project price tag was $1.7 million. The money, being used to not only replace the bridge but employ 30 people.
"It's going to put our people back to work. It's going to create jobs, it's going to create wealth in the economy," Rendell said.
To this day, Pennsylvania has been awarded nearly $7 billion in stimulus money, putting an estimated 12,000 people to work. It's work that the Vice-President says may save our economy in the long run.
"it's going take a while to get out of this ditch. But it's working. It's working. The act has succeeded in helping pull us back from the brink," he said.
The Governor is set to make his appearance here today at 1:30 p.m. This event will just be a ceremonial reopening. The bridge has reopened to traffic. That reopening, taking place in November, several months ahead of schedule.
Copyright © 2010, WPMT-TV
Thursday
Sometimes I Just Have to Stop and Take a Pic
Christmas Eve 2009 - in a festive mood.
This picture just added to my enjoyment of the day. Hope you enjoy as well.
Shot along the Conodoguinet on Good Hope Road.
Friday
Creek Lovers - A Local Organization That Shares Our Love
Dickinson College's Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring. Click on the link below to learn more.
http://www2.dickinson.edu/storg/allarm/AboutALLARM/MissionHistory/MissionHistory.html
http://www2.dickinson.edu/storg/allarm/AboutALLARM/MissionHistory/MissionHistory.html
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