You can always find us working on projects throughout the year. Whether its a trail cleanup, Environmental Education programs at our Tanoma AMD outdoor classroom, water monitoring or coordination with other groups or government entities like the DEP to correct and abandoned mine drainage, our volunteers creating lasting change and fun throughout Indiana County. Find out more about us by watching our brand new videos. Our videos were created by Shannon Cole as a IUP class project through Dr. Azad Ali. We appreciate his support and all her work on this project!
Ongoing Projects
Water monitoring
We currently have over 30 data loggers in streams around Indiana County. See our Water Monitoring page for more information.
We also have 5 telemetry sites up and running in partnership with Indiana County Emergency Management.
AMD Land Remediation
EC, in conjunction with the Indiana County Conservation
District (ICCD), obtained initial funding from the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection Growing Greener Fund and Office of Surface Mining for the design and beginning of the restoration of an extensive abandoned mine drainage site in NE Indiana County.
See the amazing transformation that has taken place!
EC has developed this passive AMD treatment system near Clymer, PA into an outdoor environmental learning classroom, complete with renewable wind, solar, and hydroelectric power displays, a picnic pavilion, and story walk.
Stream Restorations
We partner with others to complete projects such as planting riparian buffer zones, stream bank stabilization, tree plantings, and others.
- Tanoma – Crooked Creek – Our passive treatment system.
- Ramsey Run Restoration – fencing to keep cattle out of streams, establishing a water and feed area, planting trees to establish a riparian buffer zone to improve the water quality of Twolick Creek.
- A Stream Restoration was completed on Laurel Run in 2017. Adam Cotchen (Indiana County Conservation District) was instrumental in helping to pull this project together for us by involving the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s Mark Sausser, and his staff to help coordinate and oversee the project. Yellow Creek State Park staff, Phil Hay and Son Excavation Company, volunteers from PASEC, Evergreen, and Trout Unlimited all came together to completed the project in one amazing day on Sept 25th. Yellow Creek staff had brought the stream to our attention previously and was concerned that the stream was threatening to undercut the walking path to a dangerous degree and the bank needed to be stabilized but were unable to do the project. With that in mind and knowing that Laurel Run is also a trout stream and would benefit from the fish habitat this project would create we moved forward to apply for the grant and when it was awarded we made plans to accomplish the stream restoration. We changed our original plans a little as we analyzed the stream and bank further and finally decided on two single log vanes and a several vane mud sill to stabilize the bank. The work was done with incredible expertise and skill with a respect and minimal impact to the surrounding environment. About three weeks after the work was completed a few volunteers seeded the banks and area around the project with a seed mix of native plants for riparian buffer zones. Friends of Yellow Creek State Park later helped fund this project with a donation to help pay the additional cost of the seed needed for the disturbed areas. We owe a huge thanks to everyone for their work to make this happen. Evergreen was able to fund this project with a grant provided by the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation which is dedicated to the economic, physical and social health of the communities served by Dominion Energy companies. Western PA Conservancy administered the grant.
Land Easements
Evergreen is a 501c3 all volunteer organization. We are a land trust which means we can hold land and contract with land owners who want to preserve their land for perpetuity with a conservation easement. An easement is a legal agreement between a land owner and a conservation organization. The landowner maintains ownership but the Organization is now the steward of the land and will monitor to make sure the contract is upheld in perpetuity. It provides permanent protection for land that the owner loves – scenic vista, bubbling stream, family picnic area, and creates a legacy for future generations. Taking this action will permanently limit further development or subdivision once the guidelines are established by the landowner. It reduces estate taxes which can make a critical difference in allowing the heirs’ to keep land intact and in the family. See more about our first Conservation Easement
Brown Field Reclamations
If you know of any locations in Indiana County, please contact Evergreen!
Other Projects
Homer City Boat Launch
We partnered with Homer City Borough and the Indiana Planning office to create a boat launch at Homer City in 2012. We wrote a grant to help build a pavilion at that site and improve it with flower and a community garden.
Partnerships with many other organizations for the benefit of the County and doing local projects.
We are a founding member of the Stormwater Education Partnership group that is working to decrease flooding during storm events.
We are a founding member of the Sustainable Indiana County Task Force working toward a more sustainable economic Indiana County.
Environmental Education for all ages.
We turned our Tanoma site into an outdoor classroom and do programs there and at other locations all year round. Contact us any time to schedule a program tailored for your group. Learn more about our environmental education programs.