From the *u"K

t-\\at "tfieda*

to the ffer6\$-

oCJ\J

l-\))

2010 -Ayear of growthfor JCIM20 1 0 *,as a year of renen'al. grorvth and expansion for the Jacobs Creek Watershed

Association. Our many u,atershed improvement projects kept our technical peoplebusy and nerv members and partnels contributed innovative and exciting irleas topropel us into 20 I i and beyond. Here are sorne highlights of our busy year:

JC\[A completed three significant rvatershed improi,ement projects in 2010:

Greenlick Dan - ICWA's original Grori,ing Greener grant proposed to restore 325

feetoftheerodednortheasternshorelineofGreenlickDam. Duetoourpartnershipq,ith the Pa. Fish and Boat Cornmission and frugal project management, JCWAri,as able to restore tu,o eroded shorelines. In the end. or,er 800 t-eet of shorelinervas stabilized. trvo u,etland areas wele created and valuaLrle fish habitat rvas builtivithin the dani. '[he stabilized shorelines rvill prevent an estimated 20 tons ofsediment from enielng the lake every year.

Stauffer Run - ICWA completed a desi-en for a passive mine drainage treatmentsystem to treat acidic discharges from abandoned rnines that render Stauff-erRun lifeless. In 2011. JCWA ri,ill apply for a grant to construct these treatmentfacilities.

Scottdale Library Rain Garden/Reading Garden - iC$A partnered rvith ScottdaleLibrary and Scottdale Borough to corlstruct a beautitul reading garden that

actually helps prevent erosion in Jacobs Creek. Rain rvater from the library'sroofdrains is used to rvater the rain garden florvers. The excess rvater is combinedrvith rain water absorbed by the reading garden's porous pavement anci held in an

underground collection area. This collected rain *'ater is released gradually to thestreanl, preventin,r heavy rain flo*,s fronr eroding Jacobs Creek.

20l0rvasalsoanexcitingyearofgrorvthinareasotherthanstreamimprovemeniprojects. JCWAhasjumpedllomunderl0memberstoalnost40.includingbusiness and corporate members. We have a nerv and enthusiastic board rnember in Frank Romeo. rvho contributes innovative ideas, administers our Face Book page

the local papers and JCWA u,as even featured in tu'o raclio shorv segments on WYEP's Allegheny Front program. Additionally, JCWA sponsored nvo bird outings,three stream clean-ups and an exciting summertinre rnember's picnic.

JCWA plans on making 20i I another productive year by increasing our community outreach events. conducting rnore stream monrtoring and completing morervatershed projects. The projects scheduled to begin in 20l 1 include

Scottdale Storm Water Retrofit - JCWA rvill renovate the palking lot across the street from the Scottdale Library bordering Spring Street, Mulbery Street and PioneerWay. Bestlv{anagementPracticessuchasporouspa!ement,stormwatercollectionandgrassstripsrvithtreesandplantsrvillhelppreventstormwaterrunofffromsurging into Jacobs Creek and causing flooding and additional stream bank erosion.

and creating ibur livestock crossings. This projecnvill also repair and stabilize 2.500 feet ofsteeply eroded streanr banks along Brush Run.

cunently cause strearn erosion. JC\[A rvill also ivork to address erosion in a nearby field and conduct residential stream bank restorations.

Shupe Run Restoration - JCWA n,ill work rvith lt{t. Pleasant Borough and N{t. Pleasant Torvnship to stabilize 2.000 1'eet of severely eroded stream bank along ShupeRun as it flou,s through Willou,s Park.

JCWA ,'vas recently notified that rve are the recipients of trvo 201 1 Grorving Greener grants - a $69. i 00 grant to design an acid mine drainage treatment system foranunnamedtributaryofJacobsCreekalongRt.tl9anda54l,T00granttorestoreover1.000t'eetoferodedstreambankinUpperTyroneTorvnship. Theseadditionalprojects should keep us busy rvell into 201 2 and 20 I 3 I JCWA thanks our supporters and mernbers for your ideas and your help in 20 l0 - rve could not haye madewatershed improvements, cleaned durnping sites and made the public au,are ofthe importance and beauty ofour rvatershed rvithout all ofyour support!

Bob Slreck and Frank Rtnneo retnore tire.sJiout Greenlick ltke during JCI\;A's Fal!Cleart-up arent

Geocaching - A high-tech way to enjoy

Jacobs CreekWatershedIn the year 2000 the United States government decided to

unscranble some of the signals coming hom the militarv's -elobalpositioning satellites. Entrepreneurial individuals and companres.

realizing the value of the no*, freely available Global PositioningSystern (GPS). quickly capitalized upon civilran uses lol the signalsDue to the release of this intbrmation. it u'as quickly realized thatthe old treasure hunt games of Letterboxing and Orienteerins couldbe taken to nerv levels utilizing both the Intemet and hand heldGPS der,ices. On May ist of 2000. the signal u'as unscranrbled andri'ithin days the first cache (a container rvith a logbook and tradableitems inside) rvas hidden and found outside of Portland. Oregon. Brthe end of 2000. the sporl rvould be named Ceocaching. and n'eb-sites ri'ould spring up rvith listin-es of caches all over the *,orld.

Lerterboxing is the sport ofhiding a container and publishing clues to its rvhereabouts so people can find the container and logtheir visit. similar to a scavenger hunt. Orienteering is naYigating your \\'ay rvith map and compass along a predefined course

ofcontrol points. Bcxh ofthese activities existed lon,e before the advent ofsatellites and coniputers.but it is the combinationofLetterboxing and Orienteerin_s rvith GPS and the Internet that has created the ivorld*'ide phenomenon ofGeocaching, InGeocaching. the hidden container is called a cache. the control points are called u'al,points and are given in GPS coordinates,and the clues tbr locating the cache ale posted to a rvebsite.

Toda1.. GPS enabled smart phones and inexpensive handheld GPS devices have become ubiquitous. allo*'ing nore and morepeopletojoininthehunt. Accordingtogeocaching.comthereareoveronemillionactivecachesri'orldrvide.fiiiyorsoofrvhichaterighthereu'ithintheJacobsCreeklVatershed. Thesenurnbersarefromjustoneolthemanl'*'ebsitesthatlistGeocaches and Letterboxes.

Ify'ouareinterestedinGeocaching.all youneedisaGPSunitandacomputerwithinternetaccess. Log-ontogeocaching"comoroileoftheotherGeocachingsitesandcreateanaccor.rnt. ExplorethemapsandcachedescriptionsibraGeocachethat sounds interesting and start caching, I\{an1'caches u,ill take you to interesting historic or geologic features that }'ou lna)'hai'e other*'ise never visited. Some caches are quick glabs along roadrvays rvhile others are multi-tiered ad\entures throrr-sh

wilderness areas. The significance and difficultl oi a cache is explainecl in detail in the cache's description.

As u'ith other sports there is terminologi that has gros n up along * ith the same. Here are a feu Geocaching u,ords to get youstafied:

Cache: A container usualll containing a logbook and some sri'ag. The container can be any size and made of almost anyruraterial so keep an open rnind uhen sealchingl

Stvag: "StuffWeAil Get"andreferstotradableiternssometime-sibundinacache.usualll'small toys. Youcantradeornot.it'up to )'ou.

ivluggle:A person not associated u,ith Geocaching. A cache disturbed by a non-Geocacher is deemed to be muggled.

FTF: "First to Find" or the first person to find a particulal cache.

TFTC: "Thanks for the cache" a common s,ay to log a cache find.

Event Cashe: A gathering for Geocachers listed on a Geocaching rvebsite lvith coordinates to the event instead of a cache.

CITO: "Cache in Trash Out" is an Event Cache combined rvith clean-up.

There is much more information on the Intemet about Geocaching. Wikipedia anicles on Geocaching. Letterboxing. and

Orienteeringareagreatplacetostan.ThereisalsoagreatarticleonthehistoryofGeocachin-eatgpsgames.org. Thetrvomoslpopular Ceocache listing rvebsites are geocaching.com and navicache,corn but there are tnany. many mole. So rvhat are youu'aiting for? Log-on. dorvnload. and head-out!

JCWA ivill be holding a Cache-ln-Trash-Out event at Jacobs Creek Park/Greenlick Lake on Sunday. April 17 ,20Il at I :30 pm.OurGeocachingfiiendsandtheCleann'aysolFal'etteCcluntyn'illhelprviththeevent. Allareencouragedtocone-I'oudon'havetobeageocachertoattend: ComehelpcleanaroundGreenlickLakeandlearnaboutthesportofgeocaching. Pleasevisioureventscalendaronouru,ebsiteat rvrvrvjacobscreekrvatershed.org,call@724-887-S220.ext.3orsendanemailtojova@juno'com for mot'e details

submitte tr b . Frank Romeo, JCWA board nrcntbe,

RJ , Arutu utd Ron ,qeocat hing at Greenlick Lake

Board of DirectorsMichael Barrick. P re s itle r r t

Andy Dzurko , Vice PresidentSusie Carmichael, S e c re t e,,'\,

Tim Glovola . Tt'easurerSharyn Kmieciak

Frank Romeo

Paricia Exeative Director

AssociatesRita Coleman

PA DEP

Heather ForvlerF qv ette C ounh, C on s en ati on Di str i c t

Rob CronauerIVe s frnore I atr cl C otr s en' ati o rt Di str ic t

MissionJacobs Creek Watershed

Association is a non-profitorganization dedicated to the

conservation of our naturalresources. rehabilitation of the

creek and watershed, environmentaleducation and recreation.

For More InformationP.O. Box 1071

Mt. Pleasant. PA 15666

Phone (724) 887-8220, ext. 3Fax (724) 887-0195

Email jcrva@juno.comrvrvrv j acobscreekwatershed.org

Watershed Words: MacroinvertebratesHave you ever looked into a stream and wondered if anything i-s lying under the pebbles and leaves on the bottom? Next time. turn over a rock and see whathappens. You'll likely find a little crcature or two - these are called macroinvertebrates. Macroinvertebrates, or macros. are aquatic animals that are visibletothenakedeye(macro)andhavenobackbone(invertebrate).Theyliveundertherocks,leavesandsedimentatthebottomofourstreamsandponds. Theyare an important part of the aquatic food chain. as they eat dead and decaying plants and animals in the rvater and then are thenselves eaten by fish. Ex-amplesofmacrosarecrayfish.snails.wormsandimmatureformsofaquaticinsects.suchasstonefliesandmayflies. Somemacros,suchaswaterstriders.livealloftheirlivesinthervater. Olhers.suchasdragonflies,spendtheirearlystagesinthewaterbutliveoutsideofthewaterasadults.

Macros are an important indicator of how clean the water is and are used as a gage of water quality. Macros can't move r.ery far so they are unable to fleervhen the water is dislurbed or when pollutants are present. This immobility and their relatively long lifespan helps make thenr reliable indicarors of water

type and diversity ofmacros found in a srream are used to determine rvater qualitl.

When scientists find many species and lots of macros that can onll live in clean, undisturbed rvater. it's a good indication thar u.ater quality is good.

=jift"i."_," cr..t

Lj:s,'@,i'

rJ--'-.-.:

Jacobs Creek Tour BusHightighting interesting places in our watershed

fhe Confluence of Jacobs Creek und the Yough - Big Industry,A Miracle antl OItl Mun River

,fter flou,ing throu-eh the area knoln locally as Crick Hills. Jacobs Creek

attens out and $'idens as it nakes its way to the Youghiogheny River.

tanding on the bridge that crosses Jacobs Creek near the conlluence. it; hard to imagine that only 200 years ago. l{ative Americans rvould have

addled dugout canoes into thc Yough iiom Jacobs Creek.

,ooking south f}om the creek. the massive 160 feet tall 1582 feet longianning Railroacl Trestle crosses the Youghioghenl River. Front this trestle.

tilroad tlacks head tbr Crick Hills and link the Jacobs Creek Watershed to

rainline lailroads and the rest olAmerica. The Banning Trestle ri'as builts part of a man's dream to complete the fi rst transcontinental railri'a1. Ja1

iould and his son George s,ould go broke pursuing the endeavor but this

npressive K-Truss stl'le trestle. a rare design in Pennsi'lvania. stands as a

:nrinder to their efforts.

,ooking north from the mt'ruth of the creek. the St. Nicholas Orthodox Catholic Church at the outskirts of the tou'n of Jacobs

lreek is clearly visible. Across the river is the torvn kno*'n as Van trleter and the site of the former Dan' coai mine In the clays

f theDarrtrline.thetownof.lacobsCreek*'asconnectecltoVantrleterandtheDatrminebl acable car.theJacobsCreek

ki Ferry', For only a nickel. a pelson coLrld be shuttled over the Youghioghenl' River b1' the Sk1' Ferri' in a basket.

b untlerstand the sisnificance of the Darrmine.ire need to go track in time to u'hen immigrant sorkets tolerated deplorabie

rfety conclitions to eaLn a meagerliving in the coa|lines ofAmerica.The lack ofsafetl'standards in the mines canle to a

'agic cliniax in December of 1907. a month that cane to be knorvn as the ''Dleaded N{onth". Thousands cf people across the

ountr'1'losr their lives in coahrining accidenrs during this month. On December 19th of this teffible month.240 nlen rt'ent to

'olk at the Darr l{ine. but only one came horne alive. This is the rvorst coalminitrg accident in Pennsl'lr'anian historl' and the

)urth\\:olstinall oftheU,s.history. TheDarrNlineDisasterrr,asalsothelastlarge-scalerninedisasterintheUnitedStates.fier rvhich tougher lau,s rvere enacted and rnining safety standards rvere raised.

'he accident u'ould have been much u,orse if it had not been for the Carpatho-Rttsyn Feastdal'of St. Nicholas. On the da1'of

re disaster. over 200 men ofthe Onhodox Catholic faith uoLrld take a rare unpaid day offfrorn rvork to attend church senices.

he Intersession of St. Nicholas at Daff Mine is considered a nrodern day miracle by rnany Orthodox Christians. People fl'om

round the rvorld came to Jacobs Creek to remember the centennial oithe miracle in 2007 and visit the St. Nichoias Chulch

uilt bl,unemployed ancl lair.l-off coalminers in 1960. Thev ivould also visit the nearby Olive Branch Cenetery rvhere a mass

lave of sorne 71 poor and unidentified miners bodies are buried.

ookingacrosstheliverfromJacobsCreektodal,.thegobpiles.orspoils.iiomtheoldminesareclearll'visibie. TheDanrine closed for a time after the disaster of 1907. but rvas reopened as the Banning Number 3 rnine fiom l9l0 until it closeci tbr

ood in 1919. AIso. across the river is the nearll' complete Great Allegheny Passage. a coutinuous bike trail front Washingtonr.C. to Pittsburgh PA that is burlt upon abandoned railroad beds.

' you u,ould like to see this historic alea for yourself. follos, Rt. 98 1 to Sr.rithton PA. Travel south off of Rt. 98 1 onto Second

treet. torvards the Jones Brervery Cornpanl,. Second Street becomes State Route 3029: follorv this road soutlt along the river

rr about a mile to the torvn of Jacobs Creek. Tl-re St. Nicholas Church is obvious as 1'ou leave the south end ol torvn. The

:nfluenceofJacobsCreekandtheYoughioghenyRiverisashortdistancesouthoftheChurch. TheBanningTrestleisnother quarter mile south of the confluence.

o see the nriner's nrass grave at the Olive Branch Cemeter;'. tlavel north on Rt.981 from Smithton. It is *'orth nlentionin-s the

mithton Trail. palt of the Great Allegheny Passage. and the Youghioghenl' River access are to your ri-eht just after Iou cross

re Youghiogheny Rivel on the way out of Smithton. The Olir.e Branch Cemetery, is about a mile from Snithton and is marked

'ith a roadside Pennsylvania Hisrorical and Museum Commission sign explaining the Dan Mine disaster'.

Subnitted bv Frank Ronteo, JCIYA board ntember

HiJtori( ilt(tt k(r il(iling Ddn' .llint rlistvtt

"og \\'Ofersfeo.c'-. J""f(r,-r\Ye*Stlvrb^\n 3

Be The Change You WantTo See In The World - Gandhi

Members and volutlteer effortshclp the JC\\'A to continue our

mission. Without them the strength

of our voice and the power of ouractions is diminished.

Please become a

MEMBER today.You'll be glad you did!

Yes! I waflt to help preserve andprotect the Jacobs CreekWatershed

Date

Name

Address

Phone

Far

Enail

Annual Memberships

-

S 5 Snrdent

-

Sl0 Individual

-

S20 FamilY

-

S50 Organization

-

$75 CorPorate

lv{ake checks payable to:

Jacobs Creek Watershed Association

P.O. Box 1071

Mt. Pieasant, PA 15666

Phone (72'1) 887-8220, ext. 3

Attention bird end nature enthusiasts - spring is coming!Have vou noticed that it's staying light latel each day norv? Soon.

trout lilies, bloodloots and ofher Pennsylvania rvildflorvers \\'ill be

popping up and our miglatory friends rvill be flying back into the

rvatershed. It's tirne to clean your binoculars and dig out 1'our hikingboots so you're ready forJCWA's spring bird and nature rvalk at the

Jacobs Creek Wetlands.

JCWA rvas forlunate enough to partner rvith area bird experts to

hold trvo bird outings in the past year and has another planned forspring 201 l. In lv{ay and September of 2010. Westmoreland Birdand Nature Club (WBNC) mernbers led JCWA mentbers on bird and

natnre rvalks at'the Jacobs Creek Wetlands, These outdoor adventures

leftJCWAparticipantsinarveofWBNCmembers'vastknorviedgeof notjustbirdsbuteverythingoutdoors. WBNC

r they reflected that in the narne of the club. JCWA rvill follou, Torn's gLridance and rename our future bird outings as 'bird and nature' olttings.

elted King Fishers. Red Winged Black Birds and so many other birds greeted us on those mornings.

n the Westrnoreland Bird and Nature Club. please visit rvu,rv.rvestol.corl/torvheeAvbnc.htm.

Ve*norekntl Bird & Nature Club und JCIYA tnenbersie* ing birtls crt Jutobs Creek llletland.s

P.O. Box i07iMt. Pleasant. PA 15666

Spring 2011

JCWA HistorY CornerFirst Suspension Bridge in the United States

In a quiet, unmarked area along a rvell-travelled road in the heart of the Jacobs Creek Watershed is the location ofa little knorvn historical first - the site of the first iron suspension bridge built in the United States If you have ever

travellecl on Mt. Pleasant Road on lour rvay to the Countrl'side Shopping Plaza. l'ou'r'e likelv passed a place com-

monly knorvn as the "Iron Bridge" area. Fes, people realize that this is the site u here Judge Jantes Finlel' built the

first chain link. level-deck suspension bridge.

James Finley (1756-1828) is cornmonly knos,n as the Fatherofthe ivlodern Suspension Bridge, even though he had

noformal engineelingbackground, JudgeFinleylivedinUniontorvnandservedasaJusticeofthePeace.Countl'CommissionerandJudgeoftheCourtofCommonPleas. Thelate 1700'srvasatimeof greatgrou'thanddevelopnent

inthenervlytbrmedUnitedStates. AsAmericagrerv,sodidtheneedlormoreroadsandstrongerbridges. Judge

Finley saiv this need anil cleveloped a design for a suspension blidge that s'ould be stronger and more stable. to accorn-

modite horse and wagon travel. He improvecl on the age olcl "srvinging suspension bridge" by designing his bridge

rvitharigid.leveldeckrvhichpreventedthesurfacefromsaggingasheavyivagonspassed. Hisdesignwasthelirsttoinclude rvrouglrt iron chains to suspend the bridge. making it much slronger than ivooden bridges Judge Finie,u" u'as

anxioustoteithisnervdesign,butrvherervouldthebridgebeplaced') Trvoborderingcountiesjoinedtogethertohelpivith that decision.

Portions olthe Fayette County and Westmorelancl County bordel are fbrmed by Jacobs Creek. In 1800, the main

road benveen Uniontown in Fayette County and Greensburg in Westmoleland Counq' had no bridge to cross Jacobs

Creek. People hatl to tvait on the banks to be f'eried across the streani. When Fayette and Wesnnoreland counties

agleed to jointly pay for the cosr of constructing a bridge across Jacobs Creek, they chose Judge Finley to build his

nervly designed suspension bridge. The bridge *'as built in 1801 tbr a cost oi 5600.00. It spanned 70 feet and rvas

12thfeervicle. The briclge pertbrmecl rvell until it s,as demolished in 183-l and replaced by a timber bridge. To this

da1,, it is regarded as rhe link betryeen the ancient rope bridges and the modeln day sttspension bLidges, like the Goltien

Cate Bridge in Srn Francisco.

An historical market commemorating James Finley's notable suspension bridge stands in front ol the Uniontou'n

LibraryonJeffersonStreetinUnionto\\,n- Nosignsormarkersareattheactualsiteofthebridge.possiblybecausethere is still uncertainty to the exact location of the bridge. Most believe the historic bridge rvas located along Jacobs

Creek directly beneath the bridge that caries Rt. I 19 over the Iron Bridge area. Untbrtunately, this trnntarked historic

site has become an area fbr illegal dumping, This past June, tires, shingles. mattresses, a couch and enough litter to

fill an entire roll-off box rvere removed from the site during JCWA's summer ciean-ttp. The area rvili be closed forconstruction this summer. but JCWA rvill make this an annual summer clean-up site in the filture. If you'd like tohelp JCWA clean up a notable area in the rvatershed. please join us in the sunrmer of 2012 to help clean up a site that

dcscri'cs recoenition. not littering.

JCWA and Partners'Upcoming Events

llareh 22: JCWA Board meeting - 6:30 pm at the Scoit-

dale Borough Building. Please come and share your idea

- there rvill be light refreshments aud a door prize I

tr{arch 29: Gravel Drivervays & Unpaved Lanes Work-

shop - 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Westmoreland Consena

tion District. Register by IUarch 25th - cost is 55.00.

CalI'7 24-837 -527I or visit rvu n.rvcdpa.com.

April 2: Pick up trees from Fayette County Consenatior

District's Spring Tree Sale @' the Fayette County Fair-grounds. 9:00 am to 2:00 prn.

April 9: Mountain Watershed Association's Clean Water

Banquet & SilentAuction - 5:00 pm at Brady's Restaurat

Call 724-455-4200 or visit wrvw.mtwatershed.con.

April 17: Cache-ln-Tlash-Out Event at Greenlick Lake z

Jacobs Creek Park. Clean the park and geocache. if you',

like. lv{eet at the main pavilion at 1:30 pm. Bags, gloves

reireshments and trash provided. Call 724-887-8220. ext

or visit rvrvljacobscreekrvatershed.org events page.

April 30: Mountain Watershed Association's AnnualWildflorver rvalk - 9:00 am at the Indian Creek Gorge. C

724-455 -420A or visit rvrvrv.mtrvatershed.com.

N{ay 24: Fayette County Children's Water Festival at the

Fa]ette County Fairgrounds, Call724-437-29 l4 or visitn'rvrr.fayettecd.org.

June 18: JCWA's surnmer clean-up - site to be announce

Ultit,"1y1"'jacobscreekrvatershed.org events page or call724-887-8220. ext.3.

September 16: 10th Annual Riffle Run Golf Scramble a'

Donegal Highlands Golf Course. Call 724-887-8220. ext

or visit ivrvrv.jacobcreekivatershed.org f'or rnore details.

ffi v;rirfcwAonfacebook

t tz -,. ---- .c----,t^J L-- - --^^--1 I'-.^--- tl-^ f)2-l-...,J If:,^^ llf^tl^,^ D^','^.1^tin'^