As you saw in the videos from EarthEcho Expeditions: Into the Dead Zone, the students at the Conservation School in Lancaster County are doing some critical work for the community in partnership with the Lancaster County Conservation District (LCCD). Supported by Sallie Gregory, LCCD’s Education Coordinator, these high school students have been working their way down Middle Creek, restoring and stabilizing new areas of the stream bank each summer. This year another youth team, area 5th graders, are taking it up a notch by growing and planting seedlings along the Susquehanna River. These seedlings will act as a riparian buffer zone – stabilizing the banks of the river while removing nutrients from runoff. While far upstream from the Chesapeake Bay dead zone, these stabilized streambanks and buffers play a vital role in protecting our bays and oceans from dead zones.

The LCCD is committed to conservation education for all ages through Lancaster County, PA. This year, they presented EarthEcho International with the Conservation Educator Award for our support of conservation education for the youth of Lancaster County. We were honored by the recognition and want to acknowledge the great work they continue to do! Using EarthEcho Expeditions resources, students are able to connect their positive work in the local community to lasting effects in the Chesapeake Bay and the overall health of the watershed.

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