Educational signs will help local communities protect and enhance the stream
PATTON – Trout Unlimited has partnered with the Chest Creek Watershed Alliance (CCWA) and four local municipalities in Cambria and Clearfield counties to host a series of public meetings and to develop educational signs that will be placed at four locations throughout the Chest Creek Watershed.
The signs will be aimed at helping residents and stream visitors understand the types of pollution that can affect the stream and what they can do to protect and enhance it.
A series of public meetings will be held in January and February to explore the threats and opportunities that exist in the Chest Creek watershed and provide local citizens with a chance to voice their concerns about the creek. Those who are interested will have the opportunity to join in the process of developing the specific content for each sign.
“We hope that this project will help bring people together from all areas of the watershed and all walks of life to learn more about how they can protect Chest Creek for this and future generations to enjoy,” said Rachel Kester, project coordinator for TU’s Eastern Abandoned Mine Program.
Once completed, the signs will be placed in prominent locations along Chest Creek in the boroughs of Patton, Westover, Newburg (LaJose) and Mahaffey. The signs are to be in place by the opening day of trout season in April.
Brochures are also being developed to provide anglers and other stream users with additional information about how they can help protect Chest Creek and will be placed in brochure boxes on each sign. A Web site for the CCWA is also under development and will be unveiled at the upcoming public meetings. The dates and locations of the meetings will be advertised after the New Year.
This project has received funding support from the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund through a Growing Greener grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Trout Unlimited’s Eastern Abandoned Mine Program is focused on the conservation, protection, and restoration of coldwater fisheries and their watersheds throughout the Appalachian region that have been impacted by historic coal mining.
A main focus for this program is the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Initiative, which was launched in 2004 as a comprehensive and collaborative effort aimed at the restoration of coldwater streams and the ultimate recovery of the West Branch Susquehanna River.
Trout Unlimited is the nation’s largest coldwater conservation organization, with more than 147,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.