News & Notes February 2001

Dirt and Gravel Road Task Force Earns Governor’s Award

The Task Force on Dirt and Gravel Roads, a multi-agency group that initiated and laid the groundwork for the State Conservation Commission’s (SCC) Dirt and Gravel Roads Maintenance Program, was recently honored with the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for Outreach and Education.

PACD Treasurer H. Porter Duvall served on the Task Force as a representative of Pennsylvania Trout, a part of Pennsylvania Trout Unlimited.

Organized in 1993, The Task Force investigated, researched and documented the significance of sediment and dust, as well as other forms of water pollution resulting from road maintenance practices on dirt and gravel roads.

The Task Force is composed of members representing nonprofit organizations, businesses, and local, state and federal government agencies.

Members of the Task Force directed an initial survey of a portion of Pennsylvania’s 17,000 miles of dirt and gravel roads (those located along the Exceptional Value and High Quality Streams), and volunteers from Trout Unlimited helped to identify 900 sites for pollution prevention work.

Later assessments identified an additional 8,000 sites. The work conducted by the Task Force helped to correct an overlooked source of pollution in Pennsylvania’s waterways – sediment from publicly owned dirt and gravel roads.

As a result of their efforts, a state law was enacted to establish the State Conservation Commission’s Dirt and Gravel Road Maintenance Program, a pollution prevention program. Pennsylvania now has a program devoted to significantly preventing water pollution from dirt and gravel roads.

Dirt & Gravel Roads Workshop Slated

The Center for Dirt and Gravel Roads has scheduled a Dirt and Gravel Roads Maintenance Workshop for March 21-22, 2001, in State College, Pennsylvania. In response to last year’s comments, the workshop will be two days of sessions focused on field problems.

The sessions will consist of lectures and field trips to the nearby “Outdoor Classroom” at Stone Valley Experimental Forest. Workshop activities will emphasize sharing ideas and experiences with your peers.

All conservation district quality assurance board members and advisors working on, or interested in, the Dirt and Gravel Roads Program are encouraged to participate. A full agenda of scheduled workshop activities will be available in April.

To obtain registration materials, or additional information, contact the Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies at: Penn State University, 103 Materials Research Library, University Park, PA 16802, phone: 814-865-535, e-mail: kathymoir@psu.edu.

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