Pennsylvania Legacies

Allegheny County recently announced its largest-ever investment in trails: nearly 22 million dollars in federally-leveraged grants to advance trails and active transportation. Friends of the Riverfront Executive Director Kelsey Ripper joins us to give an insight into the funded projects and their potential impacts.

Before most of the species was wiped out by blight, Pennsylvania’s forests were filled with American Chestnut trees. Now, nonprofits throughout Appalachia are working to restore Chestnut populations. One such group, Green Forests Work, is helping to reintroduce American Chestnuts in their native habitat by incorporating them into reforestation efforts on former surface-mining sites.

PEC's recently published gap analysis of the Circuit Trails network is more than just a list of priority segments: it proposes a whole new way of thinking about trail projects in terms of social impact. We hear from two members of the Circuit Trails Coalition's task force on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion: Eleanor Horne of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail, and PEC's Zhenya Nalywayko, who prepared the report.

The Lancaster Watershed Leadership Academy provides learning and networking opportunities for people who come from a variety of backgrounds but share the same vision of healthy local watersheds. As the program prepares to welcome a new class, we speak with graduates Lindsey Deininger and Emily Smedley, and with Allyson Gibson of Lancaster Clean Water Partners.

Ultramarathoner Shan Riggs talks about his 3,000-mile run from Florida to Maine to raise awareness and money for the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

The state budget passed in July represents Pennsylvania's biggest investment in conservation in more than 15 years, including funding for three new state parks. DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn returns to the podcast for a closer look at what's in the 2022-23 budget for the environment and outdoor recreation.

For more than 70 years, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) has worked with Pennsylvania and seven other states to improve water quality in the Ohio River Basin. In addition to its extensive monitoring and data collection efforts, ORSANCO offers programs to help people connect with their local waterways and become better stewards. Lily Jones talks with outreach specialist Nick Callahan about ORSANCO’s annual River Sweep cleanup and floating environmental education classroom.

Low-producing "marginal" wells contribute less than a tenth of the oil and gas produced in the U.S. So why are they responsible for HALF of the industry's methane emissions? A new study from Environmental Defense Fund provides the first nationwide analysis of low-producing wells and their staggeringly disproportionate climate impact.

It's easy to get demoralized in the face of climate change, especially when it feels like there's nothing we, as individuals, can do about it. An initiative from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) in Pittsburgh is trying to change the dynamic by reframing the crisis in terms of local impacts and helping western Pennsylvanians meet it on their own terms. PEC's Lily Jones spoke with Dr. Bonnie McGill of CMNH's Climate and Rural Systems Partnership.

An exit interview with program manager Marla Meyer Papernick as she departs from PEC and DCNR’s Laurel Highlands Conservation Landscape, where Marla has served as external lead since 2015. We look back on what the effort has accomplished since then, and what the Landscape’s new strategic plan says about its future.

Almost everything made of plastic starts out as "nurdles": lentil-sized bits that sometimes get loose and end up in rivers and streams, where aquatic creatures easily mistake them for food. On the heels of a train derailment that spilled carloads of plastic pellets and crude oil into the Allegheny River in May, western PA watershed groups are working with university researchers and citizen scientists to measure the presence of nurdles in the region's waterways.

In celebration of National Trails Day on June 4, a repeat of our 2020 conversation with planning architect and trails historian Chuck Flink about his book, The Greenway Imperative.

This Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of boating season in Pennsylvania, as well as National Safe Boating Week. Laurel Anders of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission joins us to explain how motorized and non-motorized boaters can stay safe on the water this summer. We also discuss newly available funding opportunities for water trail access projects in the Commonwealth.

Outcome-based financing is an innovative way to leverage markets to fund socially-impactful projects that might otherwise be difficult to finance using conventional models. Amie Fleming of Quantified Ventures, a D.C.-based capital firm specializing in the application of outcome-based financing to environmental, public health, and community-development initiatives, joins us to explain how it works.

We celebrate Earth Day in conversation with Pennsylvania-born Rosalie Haizlett, a nature illustrator who's had work commissioned by the Smithsonian and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She tells PEC's Lily Jones why she believes the arts can be a gateway to stewardship.

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival On Tour returns to Pennsylvania this month with in-person and virtual screenings hosted by PEC and POWR. One of the featured films, "A River Reborn", is a new documentary about how the Little Conemaugh River in Cambria County is rebounding from decades of pollution. We discuss the film with its director, Ben Kalina, of Mangrove Media.

In Pennsylvania, fun is serious business. Amid growing recognition of outdoor recreation as a vital sector of the state’s economy — not to mention an indispensable public good — the state agency tasked with managing Pennsylvania’s natural resources is making a bold investment in the burgeoning outdoor industry, while reaffirming its commitment to ensuring equitable access for all Pennsylvanians. On this episode, we’re getting to know Pennsylvania’s first-ever statewide recreation czar, Nathan Reigner, and his vision for the newly-established Office of Outdoor Recreation within DCNR.

Last summer, the Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia was all set to launch its first, much-anticipated, multimedia arts exhibition, which explored how water has shaped the city’s history, with a special focus on its role in the lives of Black Philadelphians. Just ahead of the scheduled opening, Hurricane Ida hit, forcing the event’s cancellation. POOL is now set to re-open on March 22 — World Water Day — with a new emphasis on environmental justice and resiliency in the face of climate change. We get a preview of the exhibit with Dionne Watts Williams, Communications Manager for Fairmount Waterworks.

Many organizations are working to improve Philadelphians' access to the outdoors and its associated benefits. Many others are focused on food equity, food sovereignty, and public health. One group -- the Philadelphia Orchard Project -- is doing all of the above. We speak with Executive Director Kim Jordan about their efforts to transform vacant lots into neighborhood green spaces that produce healthy food for residents.

Most religions acknowledge the need for environmental stewardship in their teachings. Because of these shared values, religious organizations are natural partners in watershed work. Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake operates on this principle, working with faith communities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We discuss with Jodi Rose, IPC's Executive Director.