A brief note this morning as Bill and I will be returning home from southern shores as you are reading this. Roll on, Spring!

Photographer Jason Robson noted that he was hoping the sky would open up for the masthead shot but the colors are gorgeous just as they are. Click and enjoy!

Released this week were the results of a statewide poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling & Research at the behest of the Foundation. And what did this poll uncover? NO surprise, really. You LOVE your state parks and forests and you believe they should be funded and cared for by the state government. Read our press release and, as it suggests, weigh in with your state representative and senator if you have not yet done so at the Take Action Center of our website at  https://ppff.online/voice.

And speaking of two-parters, Part 2 of Dr. Carolyn Sears' blog on invasive plants (Management Strategies for Invasive Plants) posted this week. It's the right time of year to begin to get a handle on the non-natives that threaten our landscape. 

Several of you accused me of not paying attention since I admitted that I've never seen the harbinger-of-spring plant in last week's masthead. I am hurt, I tell you - hurt! Okay, I AM guilty of not paying attention quite often. But in this case, the little plant is actually a rare find and I should not be blamed for missing it.

Some of you HAVE seen it - and seen it in abundance apparently - but the PA Natural Heritage Program lists it as threatened and rare due to habitat fragmentation. That status seems to be in some dispute as the feds see it as "apparently secure." Maybe they aren't paying attention either!

Rest assured, I am now going to be more on the lookout for it.

This week, what are microplastics?

Enter each week to increase your chances of a fabulous prize at the end of the month when I'll draw one entry from all correct answers received during the month.

Again, a reminder that next week is Earth Day. More events have been added to the searchable Earth Day link on DCNR's Calendar will give you a more complete picture for park and forest events. New ones too on PPFF's events calendar for our Friends groups.

But we shall move on to the last week of the month for your planning purposes.