Members of the Leadership Warren County class of 2012 took advantage of recent warm weather to stain the educational watershed kiosks at Point Park in Warren and Larimer Park in Russell, which they had installed as part of their class project in late fall of 2013. Pressure treated wood was used to construct the kiosks, but it was now time to further protect them.

Each kiosk is three-sided, with one panel depicting the entire 900-square-mile watershed of Conewango Creek up into New York State, a second panel explaining what a watershed is, and a third panel showing the official Conewango Creek Water Trail (New York State line south to the Allegheny River).

The three high-profile kiosk locations are: Point Park where the Conewango confluences with the Allegheny River, the bike/hike trailhead at the end of East Street in Warren, and Larimer Park along the banks of the Conewango.

Everybody should know what a watershed is, and be aware of the watershed in which they live. This information is key to the public being good stewards of our natural environment. To that end, these kiosks will continue to educate the public about the Conewango and the importance of protecting it’s watershed for years.

The project has had the broad support of many community organizations and businesses. For more background on the LWC Conewango Creek educational kiosk project, see this June 2012 newspaper article from the Warren Times Observer:

www.pawild.org/pdfs/wto61512.pdf

The LWC Conewango Creek project group members are: Jason Anderson (Northwest Savings Bank), Joe Beardsley (Warren Fire Department), Kirk Johnson (Friends of Allegheny Wilderness), Ruby MacWithey (Whirley DrinkWorks), and Penny Wolboldt (Warren Public Library). Johnson is also a board member for Conewango Creek Watershed Association.

Additional photos of the kiosk staining project can be downloaded for publication from this photo album on the Conewango Creek Watershed Association’s Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/ConewangoCreekWatershedAssociation/photos/?tab=album&album-id=1226565620740887

For questions about the Conewango Creek kiosk project, contact Kirk Johnson at (814) 730-3629 or kjohnson@pawild.org.

For general questions about the Leadership Warren County program, contact LWC director Gary Lester at (814) 757-8449 or glester@atlanticbb.net.