You’ve heard of Centralia’s mine fire that caused the evacuation of most of the community that is located in far southern Columbia County. Parts of the main thoroughfare — Rt. 61 — have been re-routed and vacant streets mingle with the few homes that remain.
An opportunity has developed where the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) and its partners are seeking volunteers for a tree planting that will be held on Saturday, April 17 in Centralia starting at 10:00 a.m.
The goal of the project is to plant 250 apple trees in the now deserted areas of Centralia. EPCAMR is leading a project funded by ISI and Mental Insight Foundation to help beautify the area while offsetting our carbon footprint, improving the wildlife habitat of the area, and promoting ecosystem restoration of the abandoned mine-scarred landscape.
Beautifying Centralia will help keep people from seeing the town as a dumping ground for trash.
EPCAMR has also partnered with Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership Homepage – Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership (tenmilliontrees.org), who are donating shelters for the trees as well as native trees for a fall planting to continue the legacy during the next annual cleanup in October 2021.
EPCAMR also hopes the area will become an official Monarch Butterfly Waystation Monarch Watch Monarch Waystation Program. EPCAMR will grow milkweed and other pollinator plants. They also plan to work with local community programs to raise butterflies, culminating in a fall release of the butterflies at the location.
Click Here to register as a volunteer and for much more information. Appalachian Tree Planting Project – epcamr.org
For more information on programs, initiatives, other upcoming events and how you can become involved, visit the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation website. epcamr.org – Reclaim Abandoned Mine Lands through Partnerships Today, for a Cleaner Environment Tomorrow!
NATURE NUGGET: April has two big events this month that are all about our environment. Earth Day ’21 (the 51st annual Earth Day BTW) will be held around April 22 Earth Day Live 2021 | Restore Our Earth™ | EARTHDAY.ORG while Arbor Day where we celebrate how trees are pivotal to our lifestyle is the last Friday of the month — April 30. Celebrate at arborday.org
NATURE QUOTE:
“Porcupine Pat” McKinney is environmental education coordinator for the Schuylkill Conservation District and provides programming for people of all ages with an emphasis on schools, public programming and nature center development. “Porcupine Pat” hails from Marion, Ohio and has a BS with Distinction in Natural Resources – Environmental Interpretation from Ohio State. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sandy Cochran Award for Excellence in Natural Resources Education from the PA Forestry Association, the Schuylkill Pride Award, and the PAEE “Outstanding Environmental Educator Award.”
