Submitted Article
The County Conservation Districts of Bradford, Sullivan, Tioga and Wyoming Counties are offering a great opportunity for landowners to get assistance with maintenance on their CREP forested riparian buffers at no cost to them. The four county conservation districts along with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have come together to offer assistance with maintenance on your forested riparian buffers from two summer interns.
Proper maintenance is key to having a successful buffer. This opportunity offers landowners assistance with crucial buffer maintenance such as straightening tubes, replacing zip ties, and removing or re-adjusting bird netting. While assisting you with maintenance, Austin Jelliff and Nick Martin will also do a site assessment to keep you up to date on buffer survival percentage, presence of invasive and noxious weeds, and also provide recommendations as far as further maintenance or replanting trees and shrubs.
Furthermore, this is an important educational opportunity for landowners in Bradford, Sullivan, Tioga, and Wyoming counties to work along side these interns to learn more about the proper care and maintenance of their forested riparian buffers.
Since May, Austin and Nick have helped more than 50 landowners in the four counties they serve, with more assessments scheduled every week. So far they have assessed more than 350 acres of forested riparian land.
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is administered by the US Department of Agriculture and is designed to provide incentives for land managers to implement improved management practices in strategic locations. Riparian, or “stream side” areas are a focus for improved management through CREP, along with fields highly susceptible to soil erosion.
Returning riparian areas to their natural forest cover has far reaching benefits, a few being water quality, water temperature, encouraging native aquatic and plant species, wildlife habitat, and diversity that can enhance neighboring land uses.
If you or someone you know is interested in this free riparian buffer assistance, please call Austin and Nick at (570) 265-6969 X: 3135.
The Bradford County Conservation District is committed to helping people manage resources wisely. You can contact the Bradford County Conservation District at 200 Lake Rd in Wysox across from the Wysox Fire Hall, (570) 265-6969, jelliffaustin@gmail.com , or visit our web page at www.bccdpa.com.