A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 24, 1999
Partnership
(Continued from P«fl» A 1)
Bay Foundation Partnership and
Chesapeake Bay Initiative, is one
example where stream bank fenc
ing is catching on.
“We’ve been finding ever
growing interest in stream bank
fencing as a major restoration
tool,” said Wise.
He told those assembled on a
lane way leading to a bridge over
the Muddy Run Thursday morning
that the program has been “very,
very effective.”
Tour group members watched
as a track hoe with a ram hammer,
a jackhammer to break up large
pieces of rock, was used to take
down a two-tier dam system on the
tributary. The trackhoe, at a cost of
$lOO an hour, according to
Pequea-Mill Creek Project leader
Frank Lucas, Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS),
was provided through funds from
the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission.
According to Wise of the Chesa
peake Bay Initiative, 2,600 feet of
stream bank fencing was installed
during the tour. Wise said in the
Pequea-Mill Creek Watershed
alone, another 600 miles of stream
bank fencing can be installed to
protect the banks from cattle and to
restore life in and out of the stream.
“We’ve made a dent, but we still
have a long way to go," Wise told
the group, assembled after the tour
for dinner at the Bird In Hand
Restaurant.
The watershed, in central Lan
caster County, encompasses
135,000 acres, or 22 percent of the
county. It has 1,000 small farms.
About 75 percent of the farms are
“RISSLER")
» MIXERS & FEEDERS
ROUND BALE
FEEDERS
PRACTICAL IN DESIGN
DEPENDABLE IN ACTION
I.H. RISSLER MFG. COMPANY
Amish, according to Lucas.
Lucas provided a slide show to
the members of the group at the
luncheon. The first farm he fenced
in the state was in 1992, and within
six weeks, lush vegetation began
to fill the stream banks.
Since then, on many such pro
jects in the watershed, fish life has
returned to the stream, including
white suckers, carp, banded killi
fish, creek chubs, and tesselated
darters. Some of the projects in the
watershed have seen ducks, song
birds, blue herons, and other avian
species return to the watershed.
During the tour, Lucas told the
group that, at the Miller farm, the
Muddy Run is designated as a sec
ond order stream, though it mea
sures 40 or so feet wide, in spots. It
should measure half the size it is.
To do so, a track hoc was
brought in to remove a tiered dam
system, placed years ago as a water
source for the farm. The bottom
tier was constructed too long ago
that no records exist
The top tier, of concrete blocks,
was installed in the ’6os, according
to Lucas.
There are 40 farms on the
stream, according to the project
leader. Twenty have been fenced
already a little more than five
miles. Three more farms on the
stream will be fenced in the sum
mer, Lucas noted.
The benefits of getting livestock
out of the streams are plentiful.
Getting cows wet and dirty,
according to the experts at the tour,
only creates mastitis problems, to
the tune of $lBO per cow per year,
according to Wise. Lucas tells pro-
MIXING CARTS
448 Orchard Road
Mohnton, PA 19540 Phone; 717-484-0551
(Turn to Pago A 34)
STANDARD ON
ALL MIXERS
* Poly-Clad Plywood Sides
* Heavy-Duty Mixing Chain
* Stainless Steel Floor & Trough
STATIONARY
Through the work of the Hans Herr FFA at Lancaster MennonKe High School,
stream bankfence crossings, or stiles, were constructed and drilled in place along the
stream. Attending the tour and installing the stiles were, from left, Jason Rohrer,
Jason Breneman, James Mast, Jeff Smoker, and FFA adviser Lem Metzler.
Mike Hollins of Ecosystem Recovery Enterprises of New Freedom, center, directed
s group of volunteers and young people on probation, together with probation offic
ers, to install stream bank plantings.
* Dischari
Magnets
* Beam Scales
:ers
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