Landowner Outreach

Getting the Connection:
Land Use and Riparian Resource Protection

As part of its ongoing communication with owners of eased land, the Brandywine Conservancy recently co-sponsored an evening lecture and reception at the home of Gordon and Barbara Hughes in Unionville, PA. Organized in conjunction with the Buck and Doe Trust, the event featured two speakers who addressed the benefits and importance of maintaining and restoring forest buffers along streams.

The first speaker, Bern Sweeney, PhD., presented an overview of local riparian ecology and the relationships between the uses of land and the health of streams. Dr. Sweeney is the Director of the Stroud Water Research Center and is respected worldwide for his contributions to stream ecology. During his lecture, he demonstrated how the quality of stream water affects the interactions between bacteria, algae, insects, fish and humans.

The second speaker, Holly Baker, Executive Director of the Chester-Delaware County Far, Service Agency, explained the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) which pays landowners to plant and maintain trees along streams. She encouraged those in attendance to participate in the program and to take advantage of the agency's expertise in developing land use plans, especially as they pertain to stream buffers and portions of farmland that have a high susceptibility to erosion.

For information on how to plant streamside buffers, please call the Brandywine Conservancy at (610) 388-8340.

Top of page
Return to Stewardship Perspectives, Summer 2002, Main page