Do you like working with kids?  Do you want to learn more about nature?  The Warren County Conservation District (WCCD) plans to hold a Teacher Naturalist training in the spring of 2013.  This course will be held on Monday mornings from April to May for approximately 8 – 10 weeks and consist of in-class and outdoor sessions.  Session topics will include agriculture, soils, forestry, and water / wildlife.  Now don’t let the term “teacher naturalist” throw you.  You don’t have to be a teacher to participate, nor do you need a degree in environmental studies.  All you need is a love of learning, nature, and a desire to inspire our young ones to learn about, and take care of, this marvelous planet that is our home.

 Volunteers who complete this training are expected to be available for a couple days of summer conservation camps held the second and third weeks of July.  There is also an opportunity to learn some in-class education programs available to local schools.  (Learning and participating in class programs is not mandatory.)  People from New York State are welcome but the training will be Warren, PA and you need to volunteer at the WCCD summer youth camps.

If you would like to participate in this worthwhile volunteer program contact Jean at 814-726-1441 to sign up.  Registration is required and a minimum of 10 participants is needed for us to hold the program.

This message was sent out to Chautauqua Lake stakeholders several weeks ago.  To ensure that everyone is aware of this important meeting I am re-sending the Public Notice information.  The public notice is attached as a word document, as well as printed at the bottom of this email.

This email and associated content should be distributed, by you, to your various boards, committees, members, and contacts.  The  legal notice has been posted in the local papers as required by law.  In addition to these efforts, the Post Journal should be running an article regarding this important meeting over the weekend.

These documents may also be viewed at:  www.planningchautauqua.com  and www.cedareden.com

I thank you in advance for distributing this information to your various stakeholders.

Sincerely,

 SAV Management Plan Scoping Document

Public Notice

________________________________________________________

This notice has been prepared and is provided in accordance with article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law. The County of Chautauqua (County), as Lead Agency, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act is evaluating a proposed project (Action), which as described below, consists of the development and implementation of a Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan (SAVMP) for Chautauqua Lake.

The development and implementation of the SAVMP will be a multi-phased project that will consist of (1) identifying the problems to be addressed through a SAVMP for Chautauqua Lake; (2) collecting technical baseline information to define the existing condition of the water quality and biological resources; (3) mapping the watershed and the littoral zone and collecting data through a bathymetric survey; (4) completing a beneficial use study; (5) mapping and identifying submergent and emergent aquatic plants; (6) identifying possible management alternatives and assessing feasibility; (7) developing an implementation plan with monitoring controls; and (8) completing community outreach activities including organizing and holding public meetings throughout the process to collect information and community opinions.

The County, as Lead Agency has determined that the Action may have a significant adverse impact upon the environment and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be prepared. The County has also determined that a Draft Scoping document should be prepared prior to the EIS. Copies of the Draft Scope are currently available at the County of Chautauqua Department of Planning and Economic Development office in Jamestown New York and on-line at: http://www.planningchautauqua.com/?q=watershed/2process_pastawards.htm

A public meeting to collect comments on the Draft Scope will be held on December 12, 2012 at 5:00 pm at the Hewes BOCES Center at 2615 North Maple Street (Route 394), Ashville, New York 14710. Written public comments will be accepted until January 12, 2013.

Lead Agency: County of Chautauqua, 3 North Erie Street, Mayville, New York 14757

For more information contact:

Mark Geise, Deputy Director

Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Economic Development

200 Harrison Street

Jamestown, New York 14701

Phone: 716-661-8912

We have revised our by-laws in the last few months and these revisions were approved by the board of directors.  Now the changes must be voted on by our membership in order for them to be adopted.   This votes will take place at our 2012 Annual Meeting to be held Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 at 7 pm. The location is Jamestown Audubon Society at 1600 Riverside RD, Jamestown, NY, 14701  Members in good standing (dues paid) each have one vote.  More information of our Annual Meeting can be seen by clicking HERE.

Several changes were made.  We revised our mission statement this year and that has been added to the by-laws while the old one was removed.

A major change is the composition of the board.  We have had the board structure of three directors for each member county giving a us a total of nine (9) board members.  We have changed this to read ”nine (9) to twelve (12) directors in order to give a bigger board to pursue our mission.  Secondly, the geographic restrictions were lessened.  The by-laws now read “A good faith effort shall be made to have each county represented by a at least one member.”  Often it was difficult to get board members from Cattaraugus County leaving us with only 6 to seven board members to try to function when a quorum is five directors.  The quorum for a board meeting is still 5 but more board members will make it easier to obtain the quorum needed to conduct official business.  Having geographic restrictions sometime meant turning down a potential director simply because they were from a county we didn’t need a director for.  Also the vocation requirements have been removed.  Originally we were required to have 1 farmer, 1 local elected official and one at-large official.  Again this restricted us in recruiting board members.  The new approach is to be more able to get interest directors on board without needless restrictions while still attempting to represent the entire area.

Several other minor changes were made to update the minutes.  One example of this is including electronic communications  as an acceptable method of communicating with our members.

You can see the revised by-laws HERE.  Red text is wording added and text that has a horizontal line through it is to be deleted.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments.

The Annual Meeting of the Conewango Creek Watershed Association is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 from 7 to 9 pm. The meeting will be held at the Jamestown Audubon Society at 1600 Riverside RD, Jamestown, NY 14701. Light refreshments will be served.

A vote on changes in the by-laws will be held. A copy of the proposed by-laws changes will also be posted at our websit and can be seen by clicking HERE  or a copy can be obtained by calling Jean at 814-726-1441 or Liz at 814-730-0519. Members in good standing (dues paid) can vote on the by-laws.

Election of Directors will follow. Anyone wishing to nominate someone for director should call Jean at 814-726-1441 or Liz at 814-730-0519. A short business meeting will then be held. Members in good standing are eligible to vote and nominate a candidate. Candidates must also be members in good standing. Memberships can also be purchased at the meeting or on our website.

Following the business portion of the meeting, Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy from American Rivers will speak. Her talk is entitled:

 “Dam Good News From Coast to Coast.”

American Rivers protects and restores rivers for the benefit of nature, people and animals. We are the national leader in removing dams that have outlived their useful life to restore rivers to their natural form and function. We currently have the largest dam removal projects in our country’s history underway in the northwest and northeast. Simultaneously, we are working with the Conewango Creek Watershed Association to reconnect Conewango Creek to provide fish passage and habitat connectivity for freshwater mussels. Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP, will speak about the benefits of large and small dam removals around the country and how American Rivers works with local, regional and national partners to maximize the ecological, financial and community benefits of river restoration projects.

Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP

Lisa-Hollingsworth-Segedy

Associate Director, River Restoration Program Department: ConservationArea of Focus: Lisa facilitates partnerships to restore the form and function of rivers through dam removal.

Background: Lisa joined American Rivers in 2008 to work with communities, individuals, government, and other non-profit organizations to facilitate the removal of old dams that have outlived their useful life. Lisa is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and brings nearly three decades of experience in community and regional planning, environmental and resource protection planning, water resource management, project management, community economic revitalization, geology, and hydrogeology to her position. She was the executive producer of “Chattahoochee River: Muddied Waters, Clear Solutions,” an award-winning documentary film highlighting the Chattahoochee River’s water quality challenges and opportunities. She was involved in the development of Georgia’s river basin management planning program, the development of basin-specific best management practice standards for erosion and sedimentation control, and the formulation and implementation of regional and local plans for protected river corridors, water supply watersheds, groundwater recharge areas, and other environmentally sensitive areas. Lisa is also a former staff member of the Georgia Floodplain Management Program. Lisa is a professional storyteller and believes that the art of storytelling is an integral component of team-building, community education, public involvement, and all phases of project implementation.

Education: B.S. in Geology from the State University of West Georgia, graduate study in Hydrogeology at Georgia State University, and Storytelling Master Classes at John Campbell Folk School and East Tennessee State University

Favorite River: Nine Mile Run

The time for the regular CCWA Board Meeting  on Oct 16th, 2012 will be changed from 6:30 PM to 6 PM.  The meeting will be held in the Chaut. Co Planning office on the corner of Harrison ST and Foote Ave. Jamestown, NY.

UNIVERSITY PARK — A new series of monthly, Web-based seminars covering issues related to Marcellus Shale natural-gas production will kick off today. Offered by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the first webinar will focus on trends in shale-gas development and will include updates on the Marcellus gas play.  Tom Murphy, extension educator and co-director of the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, will be the presenter, with extension educator Dave Messersmith moderating today’s session [Sept 13, 2012] .  Murphy will present an analysis of shale-gas development, covering trends in rigs, production, pipelines and compliance.  This broad overview is aimed at providing a good foundation for understanding what the future may hold in the development of this energy source.

Presented by Penn State Extension’s Marcellus Education Team, all of the monthly webinars will be offered from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursdays, with time for questions and answers.

Planned topics include the following:

• Sept. 13: Overview and Analysis of Trends in Shale-Gas Development
• Oct. 18: Reading Royalty Checks.
• Nov. 15: Natural Gas Utilization.
• Dec. 20: What All the Water Studies Mean: Putting Them Into Perspective.
• Jan. 17, 2013: Ethane Cracker Plant Impacts in a Community.
• Feb. 21, 2013: Environmental Organizations’ Perspectives on Natural Gas Impacts on Forestry and Wildlife.

Registration for the webinars is not necessary, and all are welcome to participate by logging in to https://meeting.psu.edu/pscems/ . For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu. Previous webinars, publications and information also are available on the Penn State Extension natural-gas website (http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas), covering topics such as Act 13, seismic testing, air pollution from gas development, water use and quality, zoning, gas-leasing considerations for landowners, gas pipelines and right-of-way issues, legal issues surrounding gas development, and the impact of Marcellus gas development on forestland.

Article Taken from PaBusinessCentral.com HERE.