The South Mountain Partnership works best as a network of people and organizations working toward common goals.
Our common goal? Making the future of our region better.
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I started writing an update for this edition with a conventional list of the things that readers might need to know. Then, I realized that there was something more important on which to focus. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of our
committee members
and
partners
who are doing conservation and preservation work, land use planning, place-based development, and those bringing energy and growth to the South Mountain network. This is a sentimental time of the year for me because I enjoy taking the time to reflect on the great people that the Partnership permits me to work with and meet. Our
Landscape Conservation work
requires constant investment over decades. Whether you are most active with the Partnership now, were active in the past, or may become active in the future, thank you for understanding the immense value of this work and staying connected to us through time – you will always be part of the South Mountain family and I am deeply grateful for you all.
Katie Hess, Director, South Mountain Partnership
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Save the Date - 9th Annual "Power of the Partnership" Celebration
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January 31, 2020
9th Annual "Power of the Partnership" Celebration
Liberty Ski Resort
Fairfield, Adams County
DETAILS & REGISTRATION
The 2019 Power of the Partnership meeting will be held on January 31 at Liberty Mountain Resort in Fairfield, Adams County.
The Power of the Partnership is an annual
breakfast meeting to celebrate our collective accomplishments each year and to preview what is to come. Winners of the South Mountain Partnership Mini Grant program will be announced, as will the recipient of the 2019 Spirit of South Mountain award (see details about how to nominate someone below), among other project and partner updates.
Registration details are available
here
. Deadline to register is January 24, 2020.
Thank you to sponsors of the
9th Annual "Power of the Partnership" Celebration!
Investing in the South Mountain landscape benefits us all. We could not accomplish our goals without the support of generous partners
.
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Nominate Now for
Spirit of South Mountain Award
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Help that individual, project, or organization that has made a difference by nominating them for this award. The public and all partners are asked to nominate individuals, projects, or organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing a positive and sustainable future for the South Mountain landscape? If so, please consider nominating them for the Spirit of South Mountain award, which will be presented at the annual “Power of the Partnership” year-end celebration on January 31, 2020.
To submit a nomination form, click
here
. The deadline is December 20, 2019.
Award nominations will be judged based on the degree to which they:
- Reflect the mission of South Mountain Partnership: Conserving Landscape Resources to enrich the quality of life and sense of place of the South Mountain region’s citizens and communities
- Advance the goals of the South Mountain Partnership:
- Conservation of Landscape Resources – conserving and stewarding the natural, cultural, recreational and agricultural resources that make the South Mountain landscape unique;
- Promotion of Landscape Resources – elevating public awareness of the natural, cultural, recreational, and agricultural resources;
- Connections Across the Landscape – creating a community of collaboration among a critical mass of public agencies, non-profit and community organizations, businesses, and citizens.
The 2018 Spirit of South Mountain award was presented to Karen Lutz, retired Mid-Atlantic Regional Director for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC). Karen joined the staff of ATC in 1988 after volunteering and being a founding member of the Cumberland Valley Appalachian Trail Club.
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Fall Meeting Recap and Next Steps
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By Carolyn Seibert-Drager, Co-Chair of the South Mountain Partnership Communications Subcommittee
Reflecting the South Mountain Partnership’s (SMP) primary focus over the next two years, the fall meeting agenda was all about the region’s watersheds and the resources available to support and improve them.
Key among the topics at the September 13 meeting was a proposal for a regional mapping tool to help counties implement their required Water Implementation Plans (WIPs), a project that would be steered by the needs of the four counties in the South Mountain Conservation Landscape and launched with seed money from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.
One of the most pressing concerns among SMP’s partner organizations is not having sufficient data about existing land use and water quality to move forward in ways that will accomplish their WIPs. No single partner organization has the resources to either collect that data on its own or secure the funding needed for such an undertaking. With its funds from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, SMP could facilitate this project based on the priorities outlined in each county’s WIP, said Director Katie Hess.
“The most strategic way [to move forward] is to better align the resources of our partner organizations,” Hess said. “Each one working independently won’t be able to achieve the clean water results that we can by cooperating strategically.”
Katie Walker, geospatial analyst with the Chesapeake Conservancy, said the conservancy would be interested in helping SMP organizations with their data needs. Through its Land Cover Data Project, the conservancy has developed one-meter resolution land cover data for approximately 100,000 square miles of land in and around the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The data were most recently updated in 2017–18, and will be again in 2021–22, she said.
The conservancy’s goal for the project is to help municipalities, nonprofit organizations, private landowners and others work together on “precision restoration” within the watershed — “getting the right practices in the right places on the right scale,” Walker said.
“A parcel of land is not solitary; it is connected upstream and it is connected downstream,” she added. “You need the surrounding context to best understand what we find in the data. That’s not only where the water is, but also where the farmland is, where the low vegetation is, where the forests are.”
Partner organization representatives and Hess outlined challenges that may prevent successful implementation of WIPs during the meeting:
- The lack of both an overall conservation strategy for the region and the capacity to develop such a strategy
- Insufficient administrative capacity, such as for project planning, grant writing and fulfilling grant reporting requirements
- The lack of technical project planning capacity
- The need for improved communications, such as the ability to get important information to farmers and other landowners so they are more likely to participate in conservation projects
- The need to advocate for more flexibility and other changes in how grant processes work, particularly at the state level, to make it easier for Conservation Districts and smaller organizations to successfully apply for funding
To ensure that the discussion did not end at the Fall Partnership Meeting, SMP recently coordinated a meeting to gather more feedback from county WIP teams about the use of the grant funding so that it can be used for the greatest good of the region. SMP coordinated and facilitated the meeting, which drew representatives from Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, and York county WIP teams, the PA Department of Environmental Protection, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Chesapeake Conservancy, and the PA Organization of Watersheds and Rivers (POWR). Attendees recommended that the funding be used to create additional data layers, customized to the needs of WIP teams, to be integrated into water quality tools that they are already using and/or are planning to use.
Water quality issues in the region will continue to be a focus for SMP work in 2020, including a series of three workshops for the annual
South Mountain Speaker Series
(
see below
), among other efforts.
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Water Workshops Coming Soon
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Clean water is essential to a healthy future for our families, communities, and landscape here in the South Mountain region. Unfortunately, we have many local impaired streams, where water quality is not good enough to use for drinking water, fishing, recreation, or for the aquatic life that feeds birds, fish, and the rest of the food chain.
In 2018, the South Mountain Partnership Leadership Committee recommended that our network of partners focus its collective energy on Water Resources. As part of that effort, there will be three water-related workshops taking place this winter in the region to highlight the risks to water quality and quantity and what we can do to improve our water resources. This will be part of the annual
South Mountain Speakers Series
.
- December 3, 2019 @ 6 pm at Shippensburg University - This free meeting is for local watershed associations in the general South Mountain region. It will focus on connecting watershed organizations to one another and additional resources and will provide an opportunity for attendees to give a quick project overview. This workshop is hosted primarily by the County Conservation Districts of Adams, Cumberland, and Franklin counties.
- January 9, 2020 @ 2 pm at Dickinson College - This free workshop is for local municipalities and watershed organizations that want to better coordinate their efforts so that they can accomplish more together. This workshop is hosted primarily by Capital RC&D and the South Mountain Partnership.
- March 27, 2020 @ 8:30 am at the Trails and Trees Environmental Education Center in Mechanicsburg- This POWR Regional Water Workshop is for watershed organizations, related organizations, and interested individuals from throughout south-central Pennsylvania who want to build the capacity of their volunteers and organizations.
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PA Land Trust Association
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Trainings, Workshops, and Learning Opportunities
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November
November 20
A Call for Climate Action
The Climate Reality Project and PennFuture will hold a Citizen's Call for Climate Action at 6:30 pm at the Dickson University Center at 2986 North 2nd Street, Harrisburg. This program is designed for those citizens - and there are many - who are concerned about the Climate Crisis but have no idea how they can be a part of the solution. A panel of leaders from regional organizations will lead the discussion and provide ways to get involved. More info
here
.
November 21
POWR Webinar on Stream Re-designation Evaluations & Water Quality Designations
Join the PA Organization for Watershed and Rivers (POWR) and representatives of the Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Boat Commission to discuss stream re-designation evaluations and water quality designations from a fisheries management perspective. Noon to 1 pm. More info
here
.
November 22
Cave Hill's Kickoff Cleanup
Cave Hill Park and Nature Preserve, Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, and Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program are seeking volunteers to remove trash and invasive plants and to restore Cave Hill Park and Nature Preserve. The event is from 9 am - 3:30 pm at 6 Cave Hill Dr, Carlisle. Lunch will be provided, so please RSVP at (717) 961-6990 or
info@cavehillcarlisle.org.
More info
here
.
December
December 3
Tri-County Watershed Association Meeting
This free meeting is for local watershed associations, groups, and individuals in the general South Mountain region. It will focus on connecting watershed organizations to landowners and will provide an opportunity for attendees to give a quick project overview. It will take place in the Anthony F. Ceddia Union Building (CUB) at Shippensburg University from 6 to 8:30 pm. More info
here
.
January
January 9
South Mountain Partnership Water Workshop
Join partners from across the region for presentations on Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) and how municipalities and watershed groups can work together to improve water quality. More info
here
.
January 31
Power of the Partnership Celebration
The annual Power of the Partnership is a breakfast meeting to celebrate our collective accomplishments each year and to preview what is to come. This year's event will take place at Liberty Mountain Resort from 7:30 to 10:30 am. More info
here
.
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Do you have good news
to share?
Share it with the region through the
Around South Mountain
e-newsletter!
Send us your events, trainings, work days, celebrations, and other updates. Type "Newsletter" in the subject line of your email. Include your event date, time, location, title, and short description to
khess@appalachiantrail.org
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