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Berks County Conservancy
By Producer, Kelly Meinhart
 erks
County is an interesting variety of landscapes, cultures, and
environmental challenges. I can say that, because I had the
rare opportunity of touring much of the county during my visit
with the Berks County Conservancy.
 e
began our adventure in the town of Reading, which is a unique
town in its culture and its location. The Conservancy office
recently moved into the downtown area of Reading, and is now
supported by a largely Hispanic community. The Conservancy sees
this as a challenge they are ready to commit to. While it is
often the case that environmental programs are offered in rural,
non-Hispanic communities - the Conservancy is taking on the
challenge of language and cultural barriers by developing bilingual
websites, video programs, community outreach projects, and more.
Joe Hoffman of the Conservancy notes, "It's so important
to me to reach out to the community to let them know that we
care. Many folks in the Reading area sustenance fish from the
Schuylkill River without even knowing about fish advisories.
This is something that I personally feel that I need to change.
It's not only an environmental issue for the community, but
a health issue as well."
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 oe
and I have talked about the language and cultural barriers
that we face in the environmental world, and if anyone
can break that barrier - I think it will be Joe and his
dedicated staff.
 ur
first visit was to a local stream whose banks had been
destroyed due to upstream agriculture. The stream has
been repaired using natural stream design methods, and
you can learn more about it by watching the video clip
of Tami in this feature.
 rom
there, we traveled to the east end of the county - near
Kutztown and Amish Country. That's quite a cultural swing
from the town of Reading - and only ½ hour or so
away. Now, being a Kutztown graduate myself, I didn't
mind visiting my old stomping ground. And as a matter
of fact, the first site we visited, the Edward Burkholder
Farm on the Saucony Creek, took me right past my college
house. Anyway, back to the story. The Burkholder Farm
is in the completion stages of a stream-banking fencing
project. As you can see by the photos below, the stream
was in a dreadful state before the Conservancy and Trout
Unlimited got started. I had the pleasure of meeting with
Leonard Good from the Trout Unlimited Chapter who did
much of the restoration on the stream. The group has won
several awards for their work, and it shows.
 he
result of their hard work is a stream that is protected
from the tromping of the cows living on the farm. And
I can attest that those cows were stompers. I've never
been afraid of a cow until that day. Joe, Andy and I were
taking a casual tour of the fencing along the stream,
checking out the different rock veins and vegetation plantings,
when we felt a rather unpleasant, almost threatening presence….yes,
a steer was quite annoyed that we were visiting his site
without HIS permission. Let me just say, that it was the
first time I've ever seen anyone (Andy) 'shimmy' as he
says, under a fence to escape the wrath of a piqued cow!
Oh, these site visits are so tame sometimes! |
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 oving
on…. From there I learned that of all the restaurants
in the Berks County area, the Yellow House is the
best. It's near Kutztown, just off of route 562 and 662.
After our big 'cow adventure' we needed a little break,
and the Yellow House was a treat!
n
our next visit, things were much friendlier. We met up
with Marlin Stoltzfus at his family farm in Oley. Marlin
grew up in that house, and has been there ever since.
As you can imagine, the land and the waters that run through
it are precious to him. And so it wasn't a very hard decision
for him to come to in working with the Conservancy to
protect the Limekiln Creek, which runs through his property.
He admits to being a little skeptical at first, but is
very happy with the results of the project. In total,
the streambank fencing has preserved over 5,000 feet of
stream on Marlin's property, with another 2,500 to be
completed in upcoming months. Be sure to check out Marlin's
interview before leaving this week's program.
he
Conservancy is not only working with local and statewide
organizations to restore the waterways in Berks County,
but is looking out for the individuals living within the
county as well. Besides its stream-bank fencing programs,
the Conservancy is also involved in: A project to protect
1,000 acres of open space surrounding Lake Ontelaunee,
protecting children from illnesses related to fish consumption,
developing comprehensive watershed education within the
Reading Area School District, protection efforts for the
Tulpehocken and Wyomissing Creeks, protecting land as
open space…and there's so much more. |
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| Stream restoration, stabilization, and fencing
at the Edward Burkholder Farm located along the Saucony
Creek in Berks County. The Berks County Conservancy partnered
with the Tulpehocken Chapter of Trout Unlimited to complete
this project with a 319 Grant from the PA DEP during the
summer of 2000. |
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Congratulations to the staff at the Conservancy
for the efforts. If you'd like to learn more about the
Conservancy and their programs, contact Joe, Andy, or
Tami at their office at:
Berks County Conservancy
25 North 11th Street
Reading PA 19601
610-372-4992
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