PVAS Picnic

Don’t miss one of the best (eating) events of the year! This Saturday, June 11, is the PVAS annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the pavilion at the Yankauer Nature Preserve.

All PVAS members are invited and children are welcome! As a MN, you were given a one-year membership in PVAS and if you haven’t already renewed, you can come and remember what makes PVAS such a great organization.

The meeting includes the election of directors and recognition of volunteers, but we always eat first!! (And the meeting is pretty short.)

The potluck supper is provided by YOU and everyone asked to bring a dish to share. Those whose last names begin with the letters A-H are asked to bring vegetables or fruit; I-L, a dessert; M-R, a protein dish; and S-Z, a starch dish. The chances are good that some of the BEST pies you will ever eat will be there (hint, hint, Susan!)

All are asked to bring their own dishes, flatware, and the like. You might also want to bring a lawn chair if you don’t want to sit on the benches.PVAS will provide water and lemonade.

For more info, contact Kristin Alexander at 304-676-3397 or pvasmail@aol.com

The Marcellus Academy

As Master Naturalists, we are not allowed to use our status to support or oppose political issues. However, you are certainly allowed to attend events and opportunities that interest you as an individual. This may be of interest to some.

================================================================================
ANNOUNCEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Presented by the WV Sierra Club

THE MARCELLUS ACADEMY
A Weekend of presentations and workshops about Marcellus shale gas drilling in WV
June 18-19, 2011 at WV Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.

Meals and lodging are provided, mileage is reimbursed.
Registration is limited, so get your application in early.
Schedule below.

The purpose of the Marcellus Academy is to educate volunteer activists about the facts and impacts of drilling with horizontal hydraulic fracturing and to train them on how to bring about meaningful regulation.

There may be a special session this summer to pass Marcellus regulation and we want to be ready to show our legislators how we voters feel, as opposed to hordes of well paid industry lobbyists. Marcellus Academy will train a new cadre of activists who can proactively work on Marcellus in their communities and build grassroots support for new legislation.

You ideally would be willing to organize citizens in your communities by talking to neighbors, holding meetings, giving presentations, organizing house parties…..generally serving as a leader for building public support. The training will also equip you to enlist others to help you with these tasks.

All of your expenses for the workshop (lodging, meals, mileage) will be covered by WV Sierra Club. Several environmental organizations in WV are collaborating on this workshop, but no personal affiliation with any of them is necessary. The program will run from 10AM Saturday until 3PM Sunday.

Our trainers have backgrounds in politics, lobbying, geology, organizing and activism. There will be sessions on direct action organizing, including identifying goals, targets, strategies and tactics; how to do house parties, LTEs, planning events and news media. Saturday evening will be “entertainment” by videos of experts from other states. Sunday, trainees will do actual planning, report-backs, role playing, and then refining action plans.

We want to stress that there is limited space so only a limited number of registrations will be accepted. Applicants will be considered based primarily on geographical region, resulting in new organizers in as many regions as possible. We do hope to see more than one person from a community, so they can be a team, but the number will depend on applications from the rest of the state.

Since space is limited, please respond as soon as possible listing your name, address, county, phone number and email. If you cannot attend but know of someone in your community who fits our guidelines and could benefit from joining us, please let us know. Again, they should be people who can make a clear commitment to do what it takes to build local grassroots on their home turf.

We hope you will consider this opportunity to grow our numbers and create a strong, intelligent response to the challenge of Marcellus drilling in our neighborhoods.

Here's the agenda for the weekend. We hope to see you there.

Contact: Chuck Wyrostok, Sierra Club Outreach Organizer
Toll free 877 252 0257 E: outreach@marcellus-wv.com http://www.marcellus-wv.com/



Marcellus Academy

June 18-19
West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon

Purpose: To train activists to be ready to take on the Marcellus issue in the special and regular legislative session and to proactively work on Marcellus in their communities.

Schedule

Saturday
10:00 Coffee and Registration
10:30 Welcome and Introductions
10:45 Kickoff - Hiram Lewis, Morgantown, WV, a fiery lawyer who has battled to protect citizen
land owners from the worst abuses of the Marcellus onslaught.
11:30 Training Goals & Objectives Orientation – Jim Kotcon, Chair, WV Sierra Club Energy Committee;
teaches environmental protection at WVU
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Marcellus Geology and Drilling Technology – what actually happens - Dan Soeder, Sierra Club member
and geologist with 30 years experience in shale gas drilling and hydrology
2:00 Regulation - current regulation, needed regulation – Don Garvin, WV Environmental Council
Legislative Coordinator
3:00 Break
3:15 How to get what we want - strategy and tactics – Chuck Wyrostok, Outreach Organizer WV Sierra Club;
Leslee McCarty & John Christensen, WV Environmental Council lobbyists;
Jim Kotcon, WV Sierra Club Energy Committee; Beth Little, WV Sierra Club
Marcellus Campaign Chair
4:30 The WV Legislature - who’s who, how it works – Delegate Mike Manypenny (D-Taylor Co.)
5:30 Supper
7:30 Video presentations – Ron Bishop, Anthony Ingraffea,
“A Snowmobile for George”, “Gasland”

Sunday
8:00 Breakfast
8:45 Risks - what has happened, what can happen – Beth Little, WV Sierra Club Marcellus
Campaign Chair
9:30 Legal Framework - surface owners, mineral owners, contracts - Dave McMahon,
Director, WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization
10:30 Break
10:45 Environmental Activist Skills and Resources - Bill Price, Sierra Club Organizing
Representative, Environmental Justice Program, Beyond Coal to Clean
Energy Campaign
12:00 Lunch ­­– Groups meet over lunch and do local planning
1:00 Report Back & Role Playing
2:30 Refine Plans Develop Action Schedules

PVAS preschool Volunteer Opportunity

If you are looking for some volunteer hours, and you like working with kids, this is for you! The PVAS preschool session for 3 and 4 year olds and a parent is Tuesday May 31-June 3. Hours are 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. This is at Yankauer Nature Preserve in Berkeley County, between Shepherdstown and Martinsburg.

You are NOT in charge of the program, just helping the main instructor with distributing materials, getting activities set up, and helping with the activities. Parents accompany their camper so all kids have a parent on site and involved in the activities.

All hours count toward Master Naturalist certification. Help each day during the week and you have 10 hours!

If you are interested, contact Ellen Murphy.

Mile-A-Minute Volunteer Opportunity

Saturday June 4 is the MN effort to remove Mile-A-Minute at Flowing Springs Park in Ranson (next to Home Depot). Time is 10 a.m.-12 noon.
This is not a lot of time, but with many hands, we will pull a lot of this weed! Bring leather gloves (we have some).

PLEASE let me know if you plan to attend so that we will know how many to plan for. This is a great way to earn 2 hours of volunteer time (VH)!!

We have a present for you if you help! And, yes, you can bring friends along.

email: Ellen & Wanda

Weed ID local workshop

The Potomac Highlands Cooperative Weed and Pest Management Area is hosting a free Invasive Species Identification Workshop on Saturday, May 21st 2011 at Thorn Spring Park in Franklin, WV.

The workshop is from 9:30 am – 2:00 pm with lunch provided at 11:30 am. Registration is required for the provided lunch, so please respond as soon as possible!

Please come and meet others in the community who are concerned about and trying to address the problems associated with invasive species. Presentations on woody and non-woody plants as well as pests will be given along with more detailed information on Emerald Ash Borers and the effects on Ash trees. Guided walks at Thorn Spring Park will begin shortly after lunch for an opportunity to view invasive species first hand!

Please view the attached flyer for more information. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at anytime.

Looking forward to seeing you this Saturday!

Andrea Brandon

PollinatorLIVE Program

We have so many opportunities that come to us from NCTC that it is amazing. Here is the link to video on pollinators that you may be interested in. After you watch it, there is another link to a feedback form.


Greetings Pollinator Partners:

If you weren't able to watch "Nature's Partners: Pollinators, Plants and
People" live on April 13, the program is now available as streaming video at
http://pollinatorlive.pwnet.org/webcasts/natures_partners.php. (Make sure
you refresh the page to access the proper videos.) The program is available
in English and Spanish. Watching the video and conducting a lesson plan
available at http://pollinatorlive.pwnet.org/teacher/lessons.php would be a
great end-of-the-school-year activity to get students learning outside.

EVALUATIONS AND PRIZES
Your feedback is important to us. After you watch the program, please fill
out an evaluation at http://pollinatorlive.pwnet.org/evaluation.php. As
thanks for completing the survey, we will: send you a Bee Basics booklet and
maps of the national forests and national refuges; enter your name into
drawing to win one of 10 garden baskets full of educational tools and
materials to help pollinators; and plant one milkweed plant in a school
garden or USDA People's Garden to help our pollinator friends during their
lifecycles!

MORE INFORMATION AND LESSON PLANS
The April 13 program at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was the last
live event planned for PollinatorLIVE. However, all of the previous
webcasts are available on the web site at http://pollinatorlive.pwnet.org
to watch with your class at any time. For more information, lesson plans,
resources that meet National Science Education Standards, or citizen science
activities, check out the web site.

Questions? Contact Kristy Liercke at lierckkx@pwcs.edu or at (800)
609-2680. PollinatorLIVE is brought to you by the USDA Forest Service,
Partners in Resource Education, and many other sponsors and partners.

Harpers Ferry Volunteer Opportunities

Good Morning Hike Leaders!

We have just a few hikes left for this school year and I am looking for some
folks to help lead them.  On May 2, HFMS students would like to hike from
Keys Gap to Harpers Ferry along the AT.  This hike will board a bus at
school at 9:00 and will be back at school at 2:00.  On May 5 and May 6 I am
looking for a hike leader to do an easy or medium difficulty hike with
students from Wildwood.  A hike schedule with the specifics for the rest of
the year is attached below.  Please let me know if you are able to lead one
of these hikes.

Below is a flier for a GPS training we are offering for all hike
leaders or potential hike leaders.  Please RSVP to me by 4/29 to participate
in this training.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Amber Kraft
Education Specialist
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Phone: 304-535-6293
Amber_Kraft@nps.gov