Elk County (PA) Conservation District

06/12/2026

06/01/2026

And so, the countdown begins... ⏳

We thank not only the advisors of the grant for supporting us over the years, but also you! Support from the public and the opportunity to educate all age groups about pollinators has been overwhelming year after year! 🦋🐛🌸🌼

See you at the Fair! 🥳🎉

05/31/2026

It’s not easy being green… said no one ever after the last few months of being in the gloomy grays. 🌧⛈️💦😞

Have you had the chance to see how GREEN everything has been?! 🍀🌳🌿🌲🤩 Your favorite conservation district staff members at ECCD have definitely noticed. You’d think that we ended up in the Emerald City! 🏙🟢✨💚 After so many months of cloudy, gray skies and wishy-washy weather, it’s awesome to finally see the season “spring” into action. 🌸🐝🦋🌱

For this month’s ECCO Blast, we got the chance to see all sorts of neat gems in nature from the smallest, budding flower to the vast, fern forests and rivers that run through the PA Wilds. This month’s Elk County Conservation Observations is a mix of photos from Elk County, our neighboring counties, and state parks too. Again, this just goes to show how beautiful our corner of the world is, right here in PA. 🌷🐸🏞️🍄

Have you had the chance to observe any neat things when you’re out and about this month? Share your photos in the comments below, bonus points if it’s something GREEN! 📲↪️✅

05/29/2026

📢 Attention Everyone! During a site visit last week, ECCD staff noted a small (but growing larger) patch of Poison Hemlock along Laurel Mill Road in Sandy Beach Park. The patch is growing along the roadside and follows up to the trailhead of the soon to be opening mountain bike trail next to the upper parking lot. ECCD has contacted the US Forest Service, and it will be addressed and treated.

Please be aware of this invasive plant growing in the area. As the name says, this is a poisonous w**d that is toxic to people and animals. It’s effects can be fatal if ingested or inhaled. Be sure to not touch or make contact with bare skin. If you spot this plant in another area at the park, please contact the District at 814-776-5373 or email at [email protected].

This post is being shared purely for public awareness and safety — not for attention or alarm. Please don’t panic, but do take the presence of this plant seriously and avoid contact with it.

05/19/2026

Public Service Announcement, per DEP:

An aerial black fly (gnat) suppression operation is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, 2026 and Wednesday, May 20, 2026 on the Allegheny River, Clarion River, West Branch Susquehanna River, Conewango Creek, Brokenstraw Creek, Tionesta Creek, French Creek, Sandy Creek, Sugar Creek, and Oil Creek. This operation will begin in Clearfield County at 7:00 A.M. on the West Branch Susquehanna River. The direction of the spray operation will be determined during operations and will be based on weather and flight conditions over the two days. This aerial application will include flights in Clearfield, Elk, Clarion, Butler, Armstrong, Forest, Jefferson, Venango, and Warren Counties. The helicopter will be a Bell 206L3 with the tail number N53702 and is painted white and blue and red stripes.

Helicopter Applicators Inc. will be dispersing Vectobac 12AS, which is a Bti product manufactured by Valent Biosciences. Bti is short for Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, which is a bacterial larvicide, not a chemical, and is the only product used in Pennsylvania's waterways for black fly suppression. Vectobac 12AS is a thick liquid that is brown in color that quickly disperses when applied to the water. The helicopter will fly low near tree top level and will release the material at various predetermined locations on each river.

More information can be found here: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/bureau-of-labs/vector-management/black-fly

05/15/2026

The Elk County Junior Envirothon was held at the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette on Wednesday with six teams made up of roughly 30 middle school students from St. Marys Area and ECC participating in the 12th annual event. Pictured are the students from St. Marys Catholic Middle School and St. Marys Area Middle School who took part in the Elk County Junior Envirothon. See the May 16 edition of The Daily Press for more details.

05/06/2026

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will be holding a community climate conservation at the St.Marys Public Library on June 1st from 5-7pm.

The workshop will include a facilitated listening session and open discussion, followed by a short presentation. Their goal is to hear directly from community members and stakeholders about their experiences, concerns, and ideas related to climate and environmental challenges.

We're simply sharing information about this event. If you have specific questions, please contact the email at the bottom of the flyer.

05/01/2026

We're wrapping up Conservation District Week with our April ECCO post. Check out the photos below to see some of the cool things we've seen in the last month. Although it's hard to say that apple blossoms, sun burns, and snow flurries all within a month's time frame is cool... 🤔😎🥶

04/30/2026

As we continue celebrating Conservation District Week, we wanted to take a moment to highlight one of our favorite annual events, the Envirothon! 😊

Yesterday, we hosted our 23rd Annual Envirothon at the Elk Country Visitor Center. We had over 50 students join us from St. Marys Area High School, Ridgway Area High School, and Elk County Catholic High School, and it was a great day all around.

Students competed in Wildlife, Soils, Aquatics, Forestry, and this year’s current issue, Non-Point Source Pollution: It begins at home. It’s always impressive to see how much knowledge and effort these students bring to the competition.

🏆Congratulations to our 1st place team, ALJER from St. Marys Area High School, with a score of 370.

Thank you to all of the students who participated—we appreciate the time and hard work you put into preparing for this event.

Be sure to check out the photos below to see the teams and this year’s top scorers in each category.

And finally, thank you to our sponsors, partners, local organizations, and schools for helping make this event possible each year. We couldn't do it without you.