Free recommendations to improve properties in the Buffalo Creek watershed
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering free technical help to improve farms and forested land for property owners in the Buffalo Creek watershed, which covers 21 communities from Freeport to Butler.
The department will assess residents’ properties — a farm or forested land at least as large as one acre – and make recommendations for plantings and other measures to improve water quality in Buffalo Creek and its tributaries.
Recommendations will help to improve water quality by building healthier soil, improving ecological practices at farms and establishing or adding to wildlife habitat.
Once residents receive their free assessments from USDA, they can apply to grant programs to pay for improvements to their property, said Sarah Koenig, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Audubon has been leading an effort to improve the land around Buffalo Creek to improve the water quality of the creek, which has sections that have been deemed impaired by state environmental authorities. Audubon is working with the department, as well as other agencies and nonprofits, on the property assessment program.
The Buffalo Creek Watershed is 99% privately owned and that is why Audubon is trying to help individuals improve their land.
“What happens on each and every property affects the quality of nearby streams – and those streams all eventually flow into Buffalo Creek,” Koenig said. Individual properties impact the watershed’s water qualities, birds, pollinators, and other wildlife, she said.
“Private landowners in Buffalo Creek can make a difference on their property while also helping to protect and restore habitat quality on a watershed scale,” Koenig said.
USDA’s recommendations to property owners can provide farmers and landowners with “step-by-step recommendations they can use to improve their water quality, soil health and more — all while reducing input costs,” said Denise Coleman, a conservationist for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Buffalo Creek watershed covers the following counties and 21 communities. Allegheny County: Harrison; Armstrong County: Brady’s Bend, East Franklin, Freeport, North Buffalo, South Buffalo, Sugarcreek, West Franklin and Worthington. Butler County: Buffalo Township, Chicora, Clearfield, Clinton, Concord, Donegal Township, Fairview, Jefferson, Oakland Township, Saxonburg, Summit and Winfield.
The first application cutoff date for residents to apply is May 14, with a second round of applications due by July 16.
To apply, residents need to contact their USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service via their website: offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app.