South Mountain Speakers Series: Selling Conservation

"Selling Conservation from the 1890s to the 21st Century”

Monday, May 10^th starting at 6-9 PM

Penn State Mont Alto

Entitled “Selling Conservation from the 1890s to the 21st Century,” the free public event will start at 6 p.m. with forestry students providing tours of the campus arboretum. Those who wish to participate on the tour should go to the General Studies Building at 1 Campus Drive, Mont Alto.

In existence since 1903, the Mont Alto Arboretum contains a wide variety of tree species. For the event, the Penn State Mont Alto Library also will have a display of items from the early days of the school, including some old hand tied-fishing flies made by Mont Alto students and images from the Mira Lloyd Dock Glass Lantern Slide Collection of the Caledonia area taken in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Refreshments will also be available.

The lecture by Dr. Peter Linehan, associate professor of Forestry at Mont Alto, will begin at 7 p.m. at the General Studies Building. Linehan will show how the Pennsylvania Forestry Association mobilized and educated the public and influenced state lawmakers to revolutionize the management of forests in Pennsylvania.

“Nestled among the trees on the edge of the Michaux State Forest, Penn State Mont Alto has educated

America

’s foresters for over a century,” Linehan said. “It was one of the first forestry schools in the nation. The goal at that time was to crusade for a change from the barren hills caused by forest fires and charcoal production.”

After the lecture, a panel including Linehan; Nels Johnson, director of Conservation Programs for The Nature Conservancy in Pennsylvania; and Dr. James Grace, DCNR executive deputy secretary; will discuss contemporary forestry issues and respond to questions from the audience.

Sponsored by Penn State Mont Alto, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural resources, and the South Mountain Partnership.

In the Spirit of the Michaux Lectures

Pennsylvania has a long and compelling history of conservation. Inspired by the state and the nation’s early conservation leaders and their struggles, the South Mountain Partnership seeks to put today’s environmental issues into a broader context and inspire action within our communities.

The South Mountain Speakers Series are organized in the spirit of the Michaux Lectures, a series of talks given by Joseph Rothrock in his work to preserve and restore Pennsylvania’s forests and natural landscape. During the late nineteenth century, the Michaux Lectures as presented by Rothrock were an educational mission that became a catalyst for real change in our state’s environmental history.

It is our hope that as we face the challenges of the twenty first century, the South Mountain Speakers Series can encourage a new generation to find in the past a positive vision for the future of the South Mountain landscape and beyond.

Building on our past to create a legacy for our future

Selling Conservation