Ornithologist and conservationist David Yeany II will present a program on Maryland’s Marsh Bird Survey April 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the  Seneca Rocks Audubon Society meeting in the Clarion Free Library, 644 Main St., Clarion.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

From a news release: “Atlantic tidal marshes have one of the highest rates of endemic vertebrate species, most of which are birds. In 2012, the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program coordinated Maryland’s portion of the Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research Program to help determine status and distribution of saltmarsh birds across the northeast.”

Yeany, a Forest County native, is an ornithologist and conservation planning specialist for the PNHP in the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Pittsburgh office.

State Game Lands 314 in Springfield Township will grow by 40 acres after the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners approved the purchase of an interior tract from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

The Game Commission said the purchase price is $41,912 — $23,000 from the Game Fund and the remainder through third-party commitments for compensation of habitat and recreational losses on game lands from previously approved projects.

The conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to acquire the property through funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Joint Venture Habitat Restoration Protection Grant.

The Game Commission said the property, which can be accessed from Lynch Road, is within an Important Bird Area; at least three species of special concern are on or near the property. A Conrail Railroad right-of-way and a minor stretch of a Turkey Creek tributary are on the property.

No use of the surface for oil and gas exploration, production, removal or sale will be allowed on the property, according to the Game Commission.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commissioners today approved a grant that will help the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy acquire public access to Elk Creek, the leading steelhead stream in Erie County.

Commissioners authorized a grant of $209,300 toward the purchase of 84 acres of Fairview Evergreen Nursery property mainly along Creek Road in Girard Township, including 3,600 linear feet of access on Elk Creek. The access is adjacent to existing public fishing easements and, on completion of the project and with the inclusion of other pending easements, will provide a public access corridor of some 2.7 miles — from the Conrail Railroad tracks near Route 5 upstream to Route 20 in Girard.

The project also will include a parking area and a footpath to Elk Creek. The Conservancy will own and control the property and grant an easement to the Fish and Boat Commission for fishing, boating and riparian and fishery management

The Conservancy also is receiving a $137,000 grant from the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and $112,400 from a private foundation.

The Commission also is working with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation on a new lease agreement for the Linesville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County. The new lease is expected to last at least 25 years.

More from today’s meeting here.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy will host its annual Allegheny River sojourn June 12-13, 2010, from Warren to Indian Waters Livery north of Tidioute.

The sojourn is open to WPC members and nonmembers alike. To register or for information, call Kelly Horrell at (724) 459-0953, Ext.113, or go to  www.waterlandlife.org. Registration deadline is May 28.

The Warren County Historical Society will be available for tours of museums and historical highlights on June 11. On June 12, watch a presentation by the Pennsylvania Game Commission about the Bald Eagle Restoration Project as well as a raptor presentation featuring live birds of prey. June 13 will start with a morning yoga stretches for those interested, followed by a bird song identification hike.

Seven of the Allegheny River’s islands are designed National Forest Islands and are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The sojourn will explore the islands along the wild and scenic Allegheny River.

Additional sponsors include Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Indian Waters Canoe and Kayak Rental.