Type: Green Spaces, Blue Waters & Clear Skies

Appalachian Trail Conservancy

The ATC’s mission is “to preserve and manage the Appalachian Trail to ensure that its vast natural beauty and priceless cultural heritage can be shared and enjoyed today, tomorrow, and for centuries to come.”

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy upholds the highest standards for the protection and management of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) to ensure that it can be shared and enjoyed well into the future.

Due to the Trail’s historic legacy of volunteerism, many of the ATC’s programs are focused on supporting and encouraging volunteers. We work cooperatively with volunteer A.T. clubs and agencies to develop meaningful Trail policies, share expertise on trail design and construction, and protect the landscapes and natural and cultural resources that represent the unique, inspiring, and oftentimes life changing, experience of the A.T

Our newer initiatives help us reach out to the next generation of A.T. supporters and visitors through education and outreach programs. As we work to steward the valuable lands that the A.T. traverses, we are eager to ensure those protected lands remain relevant and available to all those seeking recreation and solitude on the Trail.

The organization also provides leadership support to the South Mountain Partnership.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy maintains an online map of the entire Appalachian Trail to aid hikers in trip planning.

April 27, 2014
LeTort Regional Authority
The mission of the LeTort Regional Authority is “to protect and preserve the LeTort Spring Run and its watershed by promoting flood control and developing access and recreational opportunities within the watershed.” Goals include the minimizing flooding, improving water quality, restoring the natural conditions of the watershed, and providing opportunities for public involvement and education regarding the use and understanding of the watershed’s resources. The group was established in 1973 by citizens of the area who wanted to preserve the LeTort Spring Run.

LeTort Regional Authority supports the sustainability and livability of the Greater Carlisle Area in the following ways:
- Minimizing storm water flooding and protecting and enhancing water quality.
- Providing public education and involvement opportunities in the use and understanding of the watershed’s resources.
- Engendering a sense of community responsibility for all resources within the watershed.
- Improving short and long-term financial viability of the Authority.
April 1, 2014
South Mountain Partnership

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LqAyG_urlw#t=45″]

The South Mountain Partnership is a public-private partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) landscape conservation program and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

The Partnership works to serve as a facilitator, integrator, interpreter, and catalyst in the Greater Carlisle community to facilitate landscape conservation. As a facilitator, they bring people together. One example of this role is their support of large land acquisitions. As integrators, they work across political and sectoral boundaries to be the voice of conservation. They serve as an interpreter which means that they demonstrate and promote the resources that the landscapes provides to support the people. The South Mountain Partnership is a catalyst for conservation action.

Organizations and individuals in the greater Carlisle area can apply for mini grants from the Partnership to support their own landscape conservation projects.

The Partnership offers a variety of educational opportunities for the community including an annual speaker series and a South Mountain PA mobile phone app.

April 1, 2014
Carlisle Parks and Recreation

The Parks and Recreation Department of the Borough of Carlisle works to provide open spaces and movement based activities for members of the Carlisle community. Parks and Rec created and maintains a bike trail system which provides community members with a safe place to exercise. They have produced a map to make the trails more accessible (see below).

There are 18 parks in Carlisle maintained by the Parks and Rec department which provide open spaces for the community to spend time outside. The department will work with neighborhood association on supplemental maintenance projects. Park revitalization projects generate community investment in these open spaces and facilitates community building. One example of a park revitalization project is the Heberlig Palmer Park.

The Parks and Recreation Department also provides a host of educational programs which enhance community knowledge of and appreciation for green spaces. The department produces a brochure three times a year to disseminate program information to the community. The programs are focused on active programs and healthy family activities.

Bike and Pedestrian Trail Network Map

April 1, 2014
Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania

Sparked by a rise in respiratory problems in Carlisle, the Clean Air Board (CAB) was established in 2005 by a group of community members who were interested in monitoring the air quality in the Cumberland Valley and educating the community on the human health impacts of this air quality.

The Clean Air Board has since worked on a series of projects to better the air quality in Carlisle. They began with school bus idling because of its intimate impact on Carlisle children, teachers, and bus drivers.

Next, the CAB worked to pass a state law which regulates truck idling. Prior to the passage of this law, thousands of trucks idled overnight every night in Middlesex County alone. The law states that trucks cannot idle for more than five minutes in any part of Pennsylvania. Although enforcement has proven to be an issue, this law does improve the air quality, and thus the livability, of the greater Carlisle area.

The Clean Air Board works with the Sentinel to release the information collected by their air quality monitor in real time on The Sentinel website.

The CAB runs an education project in conjunction with the EPA called the School Flag Program. Participating schools raise an air quality flag each day when they raise the American flag and the Pennsylvania flag. This serves to alert parents and community members of the air quality every day.

April 1, 2014
Alliance For Aquatic Resource Monitoring

Have you ever seen a “Do not dump. Drains to the Letort.” sign next to storm water drains in Carlisle? If you have, then you are already familiar with one of the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring’s campaigns to keep the watershed’s water clean and protected. ALLARM runs 3 programs which directly benefit the Greater Carlisle Area. Each of these programs focuses around education for all ages.

1. The citizen science program aims to teach citizens to monitor their local streams through learning the proper techniques, understanding the data, and working to communicate their knowledge to others. Although ALLARM runs similar programs across the state, they work closely with the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association to enhance citizen science in the area. This program empowers people with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively care for and promote the health of their local streams.

2.The environmental education program caters to children and young adults grades K-12. ALLARM workers and interns create curriculum for teachers and program. Additionally, they run programs for many different types of organizations and offer a diversity of material on water related subjects.

3. The Letort Storm Water Education Campaign works to educate people in the Letort watershed, which has a similar boundary to the Greater Carlisle Project area, about water run-off. They teach “healthy stream habits” actively and passively. Their active work includes rain barrel workshops and a new campaign called Adopt-A-Storm Drain. They also use posters and information sheets.

Carlisle is required under the federal law, Storm Water Discharge from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), to monitor its storm water and watershed. In addition to all of their educational work, this is also a service that ALLARM provides for the Greater Carlisle Area.

February 11, 2014