April 11, 2012
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF TOBYHANNA TOWNSHIP
April 11, 2012
Clymer Library, 115 Firehouse Road, Pocono Pines, Pa.
Speaker: Trish Attardo: "Our Backyard Swamps, Bogs and Tributary Streams"
Attendance: 57
President Freddie Kaltenthaler called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. She welcomed everyone to the first membership meeting of the year and asked everyone to be sure to sign the attendance forms. No one brought artifacts to the meeting today. Freddie announced the updates on the website; topic Women of Pocono Lake Preserve, and the site now includes minutes of previous meetings, therefore making unnecessary the reading of the minutes by the secretary. The website address is www.tobyhannatwphistory.org.
Treasurer’s Report
Barbara Fox gave the treasurer’s report and it was accepted without additions or corrections.
New Business
The president reported on the membership standing at 141 plus nine new members for a total of 150 to date. She reminded those who have not sent in their dues to please do so.
Volunteers are needed for several committees, and including membership and publicity, as Rick Bodenschatz has resigned from those positions. An ad hoc committee to do an informal audit is needed.
The work on archives is on hold, to be resumed when Alan Rodriguez returns to the Poconos.
Jack Dodge has been updating the Post Office display case while Fred Lehrer is away.
The budget for 2012 had been presented to the board and approved.
June 1 is the deadline date for reservations for the Shawnee Playhouse presentation of “They’re Playing Our Song” on June 20. Tickets are $25/person. Several restaurants are located nearby for those who want to have lunch prior to the show. Send reservation checks to HATT PO Box 2084, Pocono Pines.
The annual bus excursion is the Revolutionary Tour – at $100/person – that includes two meals, lunch and supper.
A “refrigerator” card is available listing all of the 2012 programs.
Speaker | Trish Attardo – Backyard Swamps, Bogs and Tributary Streams
The president introduced the speaker, Trish Attardo, watershed specialist for Monroe County Conservation District, and a volunteer stream watcher for the Tobyhanna Creek/Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Association. Using a Powerpoint show, Trish presented the topic “Our Backyard Swamps, Bogs and Tributary Streams.”
A map demonstrated the extent of the watershed which covers a 125 square mile area in Monroe County and parts of Luzerne, and Wayne counties. Tobyhanna, Long Pond and Blakeslee are part of the system.
The creeks and streams flow west to the Lehigh River, the Delaware Bay and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. In our area, Stillwater Lake flows to Lake Naomi via the Upper Tunkhannock Creek to Pocono Lake, to Tobyhanna Creek, on to the Lehigh River, then to the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Pocono Plateau is surrounded by an escarpment with a greater than 1,000-foot drop off the plateau, with state game lands surrounding the lake communities located in the area. In the geologic history, 15,000-18,000 years ago, the receding Wisconsin Glaciers southern terminus left here a level formation with many eskers, and kettle holes (lakes). Beaver activity formed wetlands and the melting glacier left behind plant seeds and boulder fields like the one at Hickory Run State Park. Multiple wetland sites are a high concentration of water resources in Pennsylvania. Photos showed the various types.
Wetlands are marshes with plants, swamps are woody, bogs are a mixture of herbaceous, low diversity of plants, fens are plants, and cranberry bogs appear with white bolls, called bog cotton. Three types of carnivorous plants have been identified. Pitcher plant catches rainwater and eats insects; round leaf Sundew has a sticky substance that captures insects and the French orchid (rare) Other plant life identified, blue flag iris, goldenrod, sweet gale (rare).
Trish traced the various streams in the Tobyhanna and Tunkhannock system into lakes and creeks. We have “exceptional value” streams which are monitored and the impact of industry and pesticides are evaluated.
Other threats to water quality include residential and commercial development, agriculture (declining), habitat loss, storm water runoff, invasive species, septic systems, pesticides, recreation and storm erosion. The effects are noted on cold-water fish species, stone fly nymphs that need oxygen, the appearance of lichen on rocks, which indicates water quality.
Ground water feeds streams; wetlands absorb rain and release it slowly. Monitoring evaluates the flow, and depth, water sampling for nitrates, phosphates and nutrients, and macrovertibrates.
Volunteers are always needed to monitor, and for planning, grant administration and adopt-a-highway cleanup programs. Trish concluded with a referral to the Tobyhanna Creek/Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Association website. The website offers continuing information on our watershed.
Adjournment
Following a question and answer period, President Kaltenthaler invited everyone to stay for refreshments and the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Virginia Foy, Secretary
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