January 16th, 2025, 7 pm: Shepherdstown, WV, National Conservation Training Center

On Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 7:00 pm Dr. Allen Dieterich-Ward will present on his new book Cradle of Conservation: An Environmental History of Pennsylvania. The talk will be preceded by the film Penn’s Woods: Cradle of Conservation at 6:00 pm. This film and public lecture will be held in the Byrd Auditorium at the National Conservation Training Center, 698 Conservation Way, Shepherdstown, WV 25443.
 
In this sweeping yet succinct account, Allen Dieterich-Ward brings to life Pennsylvania’s environmental history—from the birth of the conservation movement in the nineteenth century to the impacts of changes are currently experiencing. This groundbreaking book is a crucial resource for anyone seeking to understand the people, places, and policies that have shaped—and continue to shape—life in the Keystone State and beyond.
 
Allen Dieterich-Ward is Professor of History and Director of The Graduate School at Shippensburg University. He is the author of Beyond Rust: Metropolitan Pittsburgh and the Fate of Industrial America, which won the Arline Custer Memorial Award for Best Book in Mid-Atlantic History.
 
These talks are a part of the NCTC Conservation Lecture Series, which is cosponsored by The Friends of the NCTC – http://www.friendsofnctc.org.
 
No tickets or reservations are required. All are welcome!
 
For more information, please contact Mark Madison (304-876-7276) mark_madison@fws.gov
This presentation will be recorded and available for online viewing on January 23, 2025, at 2:00pm ET from the NCTC Broadcast page: https://www.fws.gov/broadcasts 

 

                                                               

 

 

February 12, 2025, PAEE Virtual Event, 2-3pm EST 

Free for PAEE Members, $5 for Non Members

Register here

A long-term goal of the PA Conservation Heritage Project has come to fruition with the publication of a new comprehensive study of Pennsylvania’s environmental history.

The story starts with forester Ralph Brock at the dawn of the conservation era and continues through the eras of energy production using coal, oil, natural gas, and other resources. Allen Dieterich-Ward also investigates how the non-human world shapes the history of the commonwealth and examines the impact of pollution.

Cradle of Conservation moves across time and place, from the Haudenosaunee people of the Susquehanna Valley to the iron furnaces of nineteenth-century Pittsburgh, to the diesel trucks on the twentieth-century Pennsylvania Turnpike. In addition, Dieterich-Ward explores the history of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River and the state’s anthracite region and traces the environmental movements and crises that have led to public policy changes in the face of climate change.

Cradle of Conservation deepens our understanding of how Pennsylvanians have conserved and consumed. This book is part of the Pennsylvania History series, edited by David Witwer, designed to make high-quality scholarship accessible for students, and advances the mission of the Pennsylvania Historical Association by engaging with key social, political, and cultural issues in the history of the state and region.

 

 April 1, 2025: 2nd Annual ACAP Ag Conservation Conference, 11:45 AM to 1:30 PM: Allen Dieterich-Ward keynote speech, Best Western Premier, The Central Hotel & Conference Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The conference, April 1-3, 2025, serves as a premier gathering of agricultural conservation professionals, including conservation district staff, agency representatives, technical service providers, non-profits, students, and others dedicated to addressing agricultural resource concerns and advancing sustainable agriculture in Pennsylvania.  

The mission of the Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training is to help farmers, ag landowners, and conservation professionals implement best practices, ensure the health of land and water in our communities, and leverage funding and partnerships.

The Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training at Penn State Extension was formed in 2023 along with partners at the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission (SCC) and the Pennsylvania State Office of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Funding for the center is provided through the state Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program (ACAP).

 

 

April 9th-12th, 2025: Pittsburgh, PA, Omni William Penn Hotel, “Forging Environments: Confluence, Resilience, Intersectionality”

The American Society for Environmental History invites proposals for its annual conference, to be held April 9-13, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a location that holds a unique place in both American history and the narrative of global environmental change. Dr. Allen Dieterich-Ward will be holding a panel on the PA Environmental Strike Force that came to be in the 1970s.

 

 

April 25, 2025, Arbor Day

On April 19, 1941, an act as passed stating the PA Governor “proclaimed such day be suitably observed by widespread planting of trees and shrubs and by group and community programs stressing the value and importance of trees and forests.

 

 

 

 

April 19-April 26, 2025, Dr. J.T. Rothrock Memorial Conservation Week

Established in 1941,”The Dr. J. T. Rothrock Memorial Conservation Week, during which week the citizens shall be encouraged to consider through suitable activities the broader subject of the conservation of all of the natural resources from which the wealth of the Commonwealth is derived.” The last week of April annually marks J.T. Rothrock Memorial Conservation Week.  Rothrock is honored as the Father of Pennsylvania Forestry. As the first President of the PA Forestry Association, founded in 1886, Rothrock promoted forest stewardship at a time when our state was clear-cut.

What better time to join a group for tree planting or immerse yourself in a PA state forest?! You might also want to include the following hashtags: #RothrockWeek #ProtectOurParksandForests #PaForests #EarthDay2025

 

 

April 29 – May 1, 2026, Lancaster, PA: WeConservePA Conference where Allen Dieterich-Ward, author of Cradle of Conservation, will be the keynote speaker.

 

Past Events You Can Still Check Out:

September 28th- October 6, 2024: PA Healthy Lands Week: Visit the Website or Facebook for Events! 

September 30th, 2024 at 12pm EST: A Conversation with Allen Dieterich-Ward about his book Cradle of Conservation, Watch the Event on Facebook! ⇒ Dr. Allen Dieterich-Ward’s new book, Cradle of Conservation, is an in-depth look at Pennsylvania’s conservation history.

 

October 1st, 2024, 12pm EST: A Conversation with Marci Mowery, President of Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation ⇒ Chat with Marci about PPFF and our 25 years of stewardship and volunteerism – and finding the connection to Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests

 

October 2nd, 2024, 12pm EST: A Conversation with Celesta Powell of the PA Forestry Association; A Walk in Penn’s Woods is a popular activity to wrap up PA Healthy Lands Week. Celesta explains this popular program.

 

October 4th, 2024, 12pm EST: A Conversation with Rusty Baker and Matthew Wedd; It’s all about the history with Rusty and Matthew. Rusty is Director of PA Museums; Matthew of the Conococheague Institute in Mercersburg. Join us for this fascinating chat about the past and how you can keep it alive.             

                                                     

October 11, 2024, 3:00-3:45pm EST: PHA Annual Conference, Holiday Inn Ballroom, Johnstown, PA: Book Launch of Cradle of Conservation written by Dr. Allen Dieterich-Ward, Sponsored by Slovenian Savings & Loan 

October 17, 2024, pm EST: Ranch House Restaurant, Duncannon, PA
 
Please join us this Thursday for our monthly meeting and a special program about the Underground Railroad and the Susquehanna River presented by Bryan Wade, founder and CEO of Keystone Oral Histories.
We will meet at the Ranch House Restaurant at 6:00 p.m.
To learn more about the Underground Railroad, read the blog on the Conservation Heritage Project website at: https://paconservationheritage.org/stories/the-underground-railroad-and-the-susquehanna/
 
 
 
 

October 19, 2024 – October 20, 2024: Friends of Pine Grove Furnace: Fall Furnace Fest, Pine Grove Furnace State Park

Join the Friends for a two-day family-oriented event with live music, craft & food vendors, history demonstrations, pumpkin carving, scarecrow making, and the pumpkin float and legendary story of the “Hairy Hand” at Fuller Lake. Most activities are free. Volunteers are needed: email PGFvolunteers@gmail.com.

The Friends can be found on Facebook and their website. Email inquiries can be sent to Friends of Pine Grove Furnace Stay in touch!

         

         

 

November 7th, 2024, 7-9pm EST: Stewart Hall, Shippensburg University, You are cordially invited to a book launch
including reception, discussion, and book signing with Dr. Allen Dieterich-Ward on his book, Cradle of Conservation. See Flyer for more info!