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• PERKIOMEN WATERSHED DECLARED "NATURAL HEARTLAND OF MONT. CO." |
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Monday, December 10, 2007 |
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The Montgomery County Planning Commission has recently completed a Draft Natural Areas Inventory that defines the most important and threatened landscapes of the County. The thirteen landscapes epitomize the many “eco-services” that our environment provides for us. Nine of the identified landscapes are within the Perkiomen Creek watershed. (Editor’s Note: We Rock!)
“Eco-services” are those actions that take place within a natural setting but are critical to the quality of life in our built communities. For instance, trees absorb large amounts of CO2 and exhale oxygen. They also slow stormwater and help it infiltrate more easily into the ground. Trees also hold the soil together along stream banks, provide habitat and food, increase property values and make our landscapes visually appealing. So trees and forested areas are considered to be one of the most critical eco-service providers.
But the pace of development throughout the County as well as a general lack of awareness about how our natural areas support our lives has lead to many of these areas being lost forever or seriously altered. The County’s Natural Areas Inventory is provided to help communities determine their natural resource protection strategies.
The map illustrates where the Perkiomen Creek watershed natural areas have been identified. The specific boundaries may be difficult to decipher because the original map is in color rather than black & white. Starting at the Schuylkill River, the landscapes include: the Middle Schuylkill, Skippack Creek, the Middle Perkiomen Corridor, Spring Mountain, Stone Hills Diabase, Swamp Creek, Pennsburg West Diabase, Upper Perkiomen/ Green Lane and the Unami/Ridge Valley Creek. In addition to large amounts of forest cover, these areas include unique geologic areas, important bird breeding areas, wetlands, floodplains and other important features that help mitigate stormwater impacts.
Ongoing development pressures that include excessive regrading and the stripping of natural vegetative cover threaten all of the areas. But one of the largest threats to the environmental integrity of our natural areas, especially our forests, is the white-tailed deer. Deer are ubiquitous and love dining on the new sprouts of young trees and shrubs. This has a dramatic affect on the regenerative capacity of forests. (Tasty young saplings get munched to the ground so no new trees are growing up to replace the old, dead or dying ones!)
If you would like more detailed information, contact the Montgomery County Planning Commission or our PWC headquarters. |
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