The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association has selected 20 new original songs from more than 50 submissions for its Songs of the Susquehanna: Volume 3 playlist.

"This project has been extremely rewarding from its beginning in early 2021. We are now on our third annual album and what an incredible mix of sounds, genres, experience levels and unique stories that have been inspired by our river," said Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. "We highly value the incredible number of talented musicians in our watershed and are excited to showcase their skills while also engaging new audiences about the river and the issues it faces."

The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association recently received a technology-based grant from the Campbell Foundation to kick off a new initiative called the Waterway Health Indicator Program.

The money from the grant will be used to create and install BirdNet devices that record, identify and upload common bird sounds to an interactive map. 

"Our goal is a two-phase process," said Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. "In the first phase, we will be working with the team at the Susquehanna University Freshwater Research Institute to collect and assess data that will help us develop patterns between certain bird species and water quality. The second phase will be to use units to monitor waterways across the region, using those indicators to help us better identify trends in water quality and use them to track potential pollution issues."

Six iMac desktop computers were donated to the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association by Miele Manufacturing, of Muncy, recently. 

The computers, set up by Fessler IT Consulting, will be used to expand environmental education work with students as well as function as research stations for various waterway issues and resources.

"We are extremely grateful for this donation as it allows us to engage more people about important waterway topics," said Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. "It allows us to have a small computer lab at the office that can be used for a wide variety of important things to further our mission of protecting and promoting our river-based resources."

President of the Central PA Rock and Mineral Club and vice president of the Keystone Treasure Hunter's Club, Andrew "Rockhound" Eppig loves studying rocks and geology across the state. 

He chronicles these adventures through his own "Dirtman Report" shared on YouTube regularly. 

"I grew up in Baltimore County, Maryland, surrounded by lots of soapstone and native American artifacts," he said. "I worked at our family nursery, so when we would be putting plants out in the field to grow them throughout the year, we'd come across all kinds of different minerals such as quartz and sometimes tourmaline as well as arrowheads and soapstone bowls."

​Riverkeeper note: This column is written by Riverkeeper John Zaktansky in reference to the Encina project proposed along the Susquehanna River's North Branch between Northumberland and Danville.

Many years ago, my wife and I lived in a neat remote cottage-like rental home in the woods. For an outdoors lover, you couldn't ask for a better location. The home was attached to a second home, which was rented by a very nice older lady for the first six months or so.

Unfortunately, her health deteriorated, and she moved into a nursing home. Our landlord rented the home to someone new -- a heavy smoker. The constant aroma of cigarette smoke wafting through the walls triggered a variety of health issues for my wife. We spoke with the landlord (who allegedly had a strict no-smoking policy), but she wound up siding with the new tenant and we ultimately had to move.  

This scenario, for some reason, has popped into my mind quite often while researching the proposed Encina plastics plant.

As a fun way to promote the Susquehanna River as we look forward to spring, the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association is encouraging everyone to create short (15-20 second maximum) videos about what they love most about the Susquehanna River and/or its tributaries.