Lacy Powers, Conservation Technician, BCCD
At the Bradford County Conservation District (BCCD) our goal is to help conserve, protect and restore our natural resources.  One of the ways we work to achieve that goal is through our delegation agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Chapter 102 for Erosion and Sediment Control and Chapter 105 for Waterway, Wetland and Waterbody Management. By having this agreement with DEP, we can handle permit reviews, approvals, and provide educational opportunities to our community - resulting in faster permit turnaround times and being able to better assist our community in their environmental needs.  Through this agreement we are also delegated to handle environmental complaints for DEP and attempt to receive voluntary compliance when environmental laws have been broken under Chapter 102 or 105 regulations. 

Dan Rhodes, Education Coordinator, BCCD
As the days and weeks go forward, the weather gets warmer and the days longer, many of us that enjoy recreation along the Susquehanna River in the form of boating and especially fishing, might be shocked to know about a poorly understood but highly important fish in our local freshwater systems: the American eel. Cagey and somewhat snake-like, the American eel is certainly a fish that many people today would not describe as overly majestic. Most people, if they were even lucky enough to see one up close would question if the animal were even a fish at all. Going back thousands of years however, the American eel was once a prized aquatic food staple for Native Americans and Colonial settlers alike. Additionally, in the past, just as is true today, the existence of the American eel is critically important to the health, water quality, stability and functioning of our aquatic systems as a whole!