Are you 55 years or older, live in Blair or Cambria County and want to become involved in protecting our watershed resources and educating the public on the natural world?  If so, the Senior Environment Corps of Pennsylvania wants you.

The Cambria County Conservation District and the Blair County Conservation District, along with Nature Abounds, a national non-profit and organizer of the SEC program, are working together to engage senior volunteers in environmental activities throughout the region.

Members can participate in a variety of tasks from monitoring water-quality, observing and reporting on wildlife, and even helping with office tasks. The possibilities are endless. Blair County has had an active SEC program for over a decade, and the Cambria County SEC is new.

“We’re thrilled that Cambria County will have a new Senior Environment Corps (SEC). There has been SEC groups in surrounding counties for quite some time – Indiana, Blair, and Clearfield - so it’s time for Cambria to have one too,” said Nature Abounds President, Melinda Hughes-Wert

“Senior Environment Corps members have monitored water quality, helped to inventory wildlife, marked abandoned oil wells and educated the next generation of environmental stewards,” explained Hughes-Wert.  “Since 1997, SEC volunteers in Pennsylvania have contributed over 2,000,000 hours to the Commonwealth’s environment, and that contribution is estimated to be valued at over $3,000,000 a year. In 2013, the SEC program won a Western Pennsylvania Environmental Award.”

“The Board of Directors is looking forward to engaging new senior resources for conservation in Cambria County,” said Robb Piper, Manager of the Cambria County Conservation District.

Training Meeting May 6

For anyone interested in joining either SEC group in Blair or Cambria County, they are invited to attend the joint water quality monitoring training on May 6 at the Newry Lions Club Park from 10 a.m. until approximately 3 p.m..

To attend the training of for more information about the SEC program, contact Melinda Hughes-Wert of Nature Abounds at either 814-765-1453 or send email to: sec@natureabounds.org. RSVP’s for the event will be accepted until May 2.

For more information, visit Nature Abounds’ Senior Environmental Corps webpage.

For Earth Day activities you can get involved in, visit DEP’s Earth Day Central webpage or volunteer for a Great American Cleanup of PA cleanup event.

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4/14/2014