Crow’s Nest: Schuylkill Acts & Impacts 2023

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

Photo: Alexa Smith

We welcomed back this summer a group we are always excited to host: students from Schuylkill Acts & Impacts, an expedition made possible by the Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Fairmount Water Works, and Stroud Water Research Center.

Photo: Alexa Smith

Students are recruited from each of the counties through which the Schuylkill River flows, then they spend a week paddling parts of the river, stopping to test water quality from the headwaters to Philadelphia, and visiting places that can impact the river’s water quality: farms, parks, forests, and water treatment plants.

Photo: Alexa Smith

The group camps at Crow’s Nest, learns about what we do here, and enjoys a campfire where we talk about careers in conservation and compare notes about our different experiences that lead us to enjoy our time in nature. This summer I was away at Scout Camp myself so I am grateful to my spouse, Denise Barringer, who filled in for me. While she doesn’t have a career in conservation she certainly enjoys the outdoors and shared her experiences through-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2006.

This is a great group of students who inspire us with their visit. We look forward to seeing them next year!