Pennsylvania South Mountain Speakers Series to Highlight the Importance of Region's Forests and Land Use on the Chesapeake Bay

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Learn about the unique role that the South Mountain landscape plays in the Chesapeake Bay watershed during the next South Mountain Speakers Series on Thursday, Sept. 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Harrisburg Area Community College's Wildwood Conference Center in Harrisburg.  

The event, entitled, "From Mountain to Sea: The Chesapeake Bay," is free and open to the public.  It will start with an informational fair at 6 p.m. on current activities and work being done throughout the mid-state on the Chesapeake Bay.

At 7 p.m., Dr. Claire Jantz, associate professor of geography from the Geography and Earth Science Department at Shippensburg University, will discuss the relationships and impacts of local land use and human activity on the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.  The bay is both the largest and historically most productive estuary in the U.S., and Professor Jantz will discuss how sustainable development and smart growth strategies can help restore the bay's health and productivity.

After the lecture, a panel including Dr. Jantz; Dr. Henry Campbell, science advocate at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; and Donna Morelli, Pennsylvania director at the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, will discuss contemporary environmental issues facing the bay and respond to questions from the audience.

The South Mountain Speakers Series is organized in the spirit of the Michaux Lectures, a series of talks given by Joseph Rothrock as part of his work to restore Pennsylvania's forests during the late 19th century.

The series is led by the South Mountain Partnership, which is a unified group of private citizens, businesses, not-for-profit organizations and government representatives in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties.

The partnership works to advance agricultural, forest and freshwater conservation by encouraging best-management practices in agriculture and forestry, and supporting land and watershed conservation.

The South Mountain Partnership, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Nature Conservancy and Harrisburg Area Community College are sponsoring this event.

The next event in the speakers series will be "Growth in the Garden: Food and Sustainability," on Thursday, Nov. 4, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Dickinson College in Carlisle.

To learn more about the speaker series, visit southmountainspeakers.blogspot.com or contact Kim Williams at 717-258-5771.

The South Mountain Partnership was sparked by DCNR's Conservation Landscape Initiative — an effort to engage communities, local partners, state agencies and funding opportunities to conserve the high-quality natural and cultural resources while enhancing the region's economic viability.

The 400,000-acre South Mountain region is at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For more information about the partnership, visit southmountaincli.blogspot.com or call the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at 717-258-5771.

Media contact: Christina Novak, 717-772-9101

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources