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Spotlight- Pocono Region Meeting Charts Course For Conservation Landscape Initiative
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Looking out at a firehouse floor crowded with listeners, Elaine Evans ticked off the reasons why she’s proud to call the Pocono Mountains area her home: sprawling state park and forestlands; abundant wildlife; fertile wetlands; clean, cold waterways. All surrounding a community where lifestyles are linked closely to the land.

There’s something else in Evans’ Lackawanna County neck of the woods—change is rearing its sometimes ugly head.

“You may not see it here in Thornhurst Township,” said the chair of that municipality’s board of supervisors, “but it’s all around us. Change is right across the Lehigh River. There is growth, sometimes too rapid growth, in nearby Monroe and Pike counties.”

The supervisor’s listeners nodded knowingly. They, too, appreciated the good life she described; they, too, had seen the changes to the Pocono area they hold so dear. Together, in what may well be a ground-breaking assemblage, no less than 119 men and women from all walks of life met for a day to start charting a course for the region’s resources and lifestyles of tomorrow.

They wore the uniforms of the Game Commission and the bureaus of forestry and state parks, and the emblems and logos of wildlife groups, land conservancies and local trails supporters. They represented state senators and representatives, state agencies and departments, and local governing bodies.

They came to sample the warm hospitality of the Thornhurst Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. on an October 15 that dawned raw and damp, and they left at day’s end as the season’s first heavy, wet snowfall coated township roadways.

All sensed their presence and contributions were valuable. All seemed willing to label the first-ever “Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape Partners’ Roundtable” a rousing success.

“When you look at this crowd—an almost overflow turnout—that says so much for the interest in, and commitment to, this effort,” said Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) President Don Welsh. “This is a real watershed for Conservation Landscape Initiatives (CLI) movements across the state,” said DCNR Deputy Secretary Cindy Dunn, “and, when you look around this room, you know the interest and enthusiasm already is here.”

From Assistant State Forester, Brad Elison, who served as roundtable emcee: “As we begin to chart a course for this CLI effort, it is so encouraging to look around and see the tremendous numbers we have today.”

With 119 attendees introducing themselves, PEC’s Ellen Ferretti, initiative coordinator, already had accomplished the first of her three-part roundtable agenda: understand, share and pull together DCNR and partners’ projects and programs for the Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape.

“When you look at the number and varied interests of people attending, from habitat and conservation to trails and tourism,” noted Ferretti, “there was a resounding confirmation of the conservation ethic within this region; DCNR's history of involvement in the six county area; and, the effectiveness of the foundation we have built together under the Conservation Landscape.”

Encompassing Pike, Monroe, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne and Carbon counties, the Pocono area is among seven geographical areas targeted by DCNR and conservation organizations for wide-ranging attempts to conserve natural resources and enhance the quality of life they so often support.

DCNR officials now are working on six other CLI areas: South Mountain, PA Wilds, Laurel Highlands, Lower Susquehanna, Lehigh Valley Greenways and the Schuylkill Highlands.

Why the Poconos?

Keynote speaker Dan Devlin, director of the Bureau of Forestry, cited some reasons:
-- Natural resources abound. Here is found the greatest concentration of wetlands in the state; large tracts of state and federal land; state parks; and private hunting camps dating back more than a century;
-- The region has a core of protected DCNR-owned land: 54,536 state park acres; 85,239 state forest acres, with over 10,000 of those acres designated either “Wild” or “Natural” areas, where human activity is especially regulated; and
-- Unrelenting growth pressure, with development often encroaching or consuming open-space, state park and forestland buffers.

Something else sets the Poconos apart, Devlin said, referring to the northeast section of the state as his family’s vacation favorite where “some of my fondest memories of the outdoors were forged, and why I entered the outdoors-oriented career field.”

“Whether it’s a land conservation effort or tourism promotion, the Poconos always have been marked by a cooperative spirit,” Devlin said. “This is one of the rare areas of the state that has been collaborating for years.”

The October 15 meeting, Devlin said, was a unified attempt to enhance that cooperative spirit.

“People have said they wanted DCNR to be a leader, a strong voice in the efforts of conservation across the state that go beyond our state parks and forests,” the state forester said. “We all need a shared vision of what we want to see or, perhaps more appropriately, what we don’t want to see.”

The regional conservation concept is not new, Devlin said, citing the Everglades, Great Lakes, and desert areas of the Southwest as solid examples of wide-scale involvement in other states.

In the Poconos, he said, specific goals include:
-- Identification of acreage for acquisition and easements, with a targeted conservation of 5,000 acres annually the next five years;
-- Aiding local governments in decisions that would conserve land and revitalize communities;
-- Increased engagement of, and support from, businesses;
-- Improved public awareness of the surrounding natural world; and
-- Heightened cooperation among state agencies and department, local governments and private sectors.

“What we heard at the roundtable was a call for continued support of this work,” said Ferretti. “We now have a regional forum for cross-communication, which did not exist before.

“We also have a frame in which to coordinate varied programs and projects in these counties, including nature-based tourism for visitors and residents, linkages to state parks and forests, increasing the link to sustainable communities,” Ferretti said.

The accomplishments enabled the PEC official to check off the two remaining goals of the meeting she had planned:
-- Identify collaborative opportunities to advance a shared vision; and
-- Discuss ways to better communicate and share information; track progress and coordinate efforts.

“What does this all mean? Where do we go from here?” Ferretti offered. “It means the foundation is sound and now we work together to build the structure. What it will look like will depend on the team working on it, but with this group, it will most certainly be vibrant, real and enjoyed.”

For more information, contact Ellen Ferretti, PEC. by sending email to: eferretti@pecpa.org.

Reprinted from
DCNR Resource online newsletter.

11/9/2009

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