Pennsylvania angler Mark Mabry knew he had something big on his line while fishing the Lancaster County section of Octoraro Creek this summer.
He didn’t expect to reel in a 25-inch northern snakehead — a notorious invasive species with a big appetite and the ability to shuffle short distances on land.
“I was a little shocked,” he said. “They’re fun to catch, but it’s not what I...
Donna Morelli
September 19, 2018
Fisheries 
0 Comments
Pennsylvania could generate up to $500 million annually to help clean polluted streams and the Chesapeake Bay by charging large users of water a fraction of a cent per gallon. That’s the findings of a report released June 6 by a joint committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
The bipartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee conducted the study to look at the costs and...
- Donna Morelli
- August 06, 2018
- Politics + Policy
- 0 Comments
A summary of Chesapeake Bay states' current work on pollution reduction plans that support the 2025 Bay cleanup goals.
- Donna Morelli
- August 02, 2018
- Local Government
- 0 Comments
Local governments around the region are struggling with the need to ramp up programs that control stormwater from developed lands. Many are turning to new fees to help fund those projects — fees often labeled as a “rain tax” by detractors. How communities talk about those fees to the public is as critical to their success as determining how much to charge.
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- Donna Morelli
- July 25, 2018
- Local Government
- 0 Comments
States are starting the process of enlisting local governments in the task of writing updated Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans. Pennsylvania has launched an aggressive effort that assigns goals to individual counties and seeks their help in drafting actual cleanup plans. If it works, it could help the state get back on track with its nutrient reduction goals.
- Donna Morelli
- July 23, 2018
- Local Government
- 0 Comments
An environmental organization that put the teeth in Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment is turning its sights on the state agency that manages 2.2 million acres of public forestland.
A lawyer for the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation sent an “intent to sue” letter to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in early June. The letter states that...
For more than a decade, biologists have been picking away at a mystery: What caused a years-long decline of smallmouth bass in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River starting more than a decade ago?
Some think they may have finally cracked the case. The results of recently published research, lauded by some as “the smoking gun,” points to a virus once thought not to affect smallmouth...
- Donna Morelli
- July 05, 2018
- Fisheries,Pollution
- 2 Comments
A smooth path to green infrastructure is built on relationships. Just like installing pipes and culverts, these projects are excavating ground that is probably underlain with pipes and other utilities. Including all parties before a shovel hits the ground can help local governments save time, money and lots of frustration.
When Marcellus Shale drilling came to Pennsylvania state forests, it brought a few hitchhikers along — invasive plants. They got a free ride into remote northcentral interior forests that previously had been spared the influence of heavy truck traffic.
Yes, truck traffic. One does not generally associate deep forest interiors with lumbering construction vehicles, but with about...
When you spend nearly 40 years working for the same employer, you are bound to experience change.
Dan Devlin, Pennsylvania’s state forester and director of the Bureau of Forestry, retired in March with four decades’ worth of observations about protecting and managing public forests. During his career, he navigated fundamental changes in the philosophy and science of forest...
- Donna Morelli
- May 02, 2018
- People + Society
- 0 Comments
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