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Click through to see who our partners are! Double click the pic and it will take you to visit their website. |
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Presents the 3rd Annual Quemahoning Classic Fishing Tournament for 2008 The tournament event was the brainchild
of this group and its leaders to showcase the recreational opportunities
available at the Quemahoning Reservoir and to demonstrate how the Quemahoning
Creek watershed has recovered from historic abandoned mine drainage (AMD)
pollution. It is has now become a destination point for fishing and other
recreational pursuits.
We would like to invite you to be a part of this annual event and volunteer to help with its planning as well as being a volunteer at the Reservoir the day of the tournament. Volunteers for judges that can canoe or kayak are also needed. In addition, sponsorships are available for businesses or individuals. Sponsorships cover the costs of the tournament and the tournament also serves as a fund raiser for SCRIP so this is an excellent opportunity to support SCRIP and its projects. Click here for more information on registration, rules and sponsorships! |
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SCRIP Members are invited to the Grand Opening Celebration & Dedication of the Stonycreek Whitewater Park in Tire Hill, Conemaugh Township, PA Thursday,
June 5, 2008, 10:30 a.m.
This
invitation is extended by the:
RSVP by May 30th with
number of guests to:
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SCRIP is the Stonycreek-Conemaugh River Improvement Project, a coalition of grass-roots groups and local resource agencies working to restore and promote the Upper Conemaugh watershed. The watershed covers these rivers and their tributaries:
OUR WATERSHED
The mountainous headwaters streams here offer fantastic recreational opportunities; streams not impacted by mine drainage often hold native trout and kayakers flock to this area in the spring when flows are high. When the Allegheny Mountains were formed thousands of years ago, the streams carved down into the rock, exposing coal seams; when white settlers moved into the region, the coal was easily accessible and quickly became a commodity. Now SCRIP is working to restore the Upper Conemaugh from over 150 years of pollution caused by abandoned coal mines. The biggest mountain ridge in Pennsylvania, known as Allegheny Ridge or the Allegheny Front, forms our eastern boundary, with elevations exceeding 2,900 feet. This ridge is the Eastern Continental Divide -- water on our side flows into the Gulf of Mexico and water on the other side flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The third deepest river gorge in Pennsylvania, Conemaugh Gap, is the bottom or western end of our watershed, where the Conemaugh River cuts through Laurel Ridge, another massive mountain structure that, along with Allegheny Ridge and Chestnut Ridge, make up the Allegheny Mountain physiographic region. |
In western Pennsylvania, ready access to mineable coal seams has resulted in a long history of coal extraction, and an equally long history of acid mine drainage (AMD) production. This has created a vast inventory of abandoned and untreated mine discharges that have severely impacted the aquatic habitat in our region.
The Stonycreek-Conemaugh River Improvement Project (SCRIP) has spent more than 15 years restoring streams in our watershed. SCRIP and its partners have invested over $5,427,000 in federal, state and local dollars for river recovery and recreational amenities within the basin, with more slated to be invested in the next few years. Having committed hard dollars and countless hours of sweat equity to improve our waterways, SCRIP is recognized in the state and all across Appalachia as a leader and innovator in river recovery, reclamation, and preservation.
A significant portion of the money that has been utilized to help restore watersheds has come from the Abandoned Mine Land Fund (the Fund) as provided for by Title IV of the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). As the name implies, the Fund is used to reclaim abandoned mine lands that were affected prior to the passage of the act in 1977. It is funded by reclamation fees collected from every ton of coal that is currently produced, and that has been produced since the promulgation of the regulations in 1979.
The fund was set up with a three-tiered priority system, with the understanding that all Priority 1 and Priority 2 problems would be dealt with before allocating money to Priority 3. Unfortunately for watershed groups, the treatment of AMD was included in Priority 3. However, in recent years, 10% of the money received from the Fund was “set aside” for the treatment of AMD, and this money has been put to use with excellent results all over the region.
The Fund has now been reauthorized for at least an additional 15 years, and will triple the money that Pennsylvania receives from the Fund. In addition, the re-authorization allows for a set aside of up to 30% for the treatment of AMD. The judicious use of this money can have an enormous impact on the health of the affected streams, and on the quality of life of the people of our region.
To read more on this subject and SCRIP's
position on the subject, please download in MSWord format: AML
Position Statement - Revision 3.doc
 "Through
12 years worth of countless volunteer hours, SCRIP pioneered and developed
the public-private partnerships that are now producing documented positive
recreational and economic benefits to local communities in the Stonycreek
and Little Conemaugh watersheds." Len Lichvar, Chairman SCRIP.
We're making great progress, as SCRIP Chairman Len Lichvar demonstrates in the photo at left. We've restored fisheries in large sections of the Stonycreek River, where we see a dramatic increase in fishing, whitewater boating and efforts to develop a trail along the river linking communities to the beautiful Stonycreek Canyon. But several major challenges remain in the Stonycreek watershed. The Little Conemaugh is far more challenging than the Stony because of many very large discharges, and it threatens the progress that has been made on the Conemaugh mainstem below Johnstown. But these rivers are the route of
the Mainline and Path of the Flood Trails, which are part of the Pennsylvania's
Millennium Legacy Trail: The Pittsburgh-Harrisburg Mainline Canal Greenway.
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SCRIP PO Box 153 Johnstown PA 15907-0153 cccd@co.cambria.pa.us
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