Reprinted with permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The Good Natured Pennsylvanian feature profiles Pennsylvanians who are passionate about outdoor recreation and/or conservation.
Good Natured Pennsylvanians
By Allyson Ritchey
Lamonte Garber is the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at Stroud Water Research Center.
Located in Avondale, the Stroud Center is an innovative leader in preservation and restoration of fresh water.
The Stroud Center’s chief objective is to demonstrate cost-effective approaches to restoring stream health, while also reducing pollutants to communities downstream.
This aligns with the Stroud Center’s mission of advancing knowledge and stewardship of freshwater systems through global research, education, and watershed restoration.
In his position, Lamonte works with landowners, farmers, and partner organizations to advance soil health, stream health, and water quality in Pennsylvania and the wider region.
He does this through various projects, such as riparian forest buffers, watershed restoration implementation, and soil health education and outreach.
Lamonte’s favorite part of what he does is helping landowners who are interested in reforesting their floodplains.
“Riparian trees provide multiple benefits lasting hundreds of years, including temperature moderation so critical in an era of rising global temperatures. All these tree seedlings need is four solid years of ‘loving care’ until they are established and self-sustaining for hundreds of years thereafter,” Lamonte says.
Lamonte has a dedicated history in water preservation and restoration.
After graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in agriculture, Lamonte began work as an Agriculture Policy Specialist at the Pennsylvania Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
He also served as a founding director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.
“We will restore our streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries through comprehensive watershed restoration and protection efforts,” Lamonte says of his and the Stroud Center’s efforts. “There are no single practices or strategies that can substitute for whole-watershed approaches. Our waterways suffer from the effects of land use change and deforestation going back 300 years. Restoration will take many decades, so we’ll need patience.”
Know of a good natured Pennsylvanian who is passionate about outdoor recreation and/or conservation that we should feature? Contact DCNR at ra-resource@pa.gov to nominate someone.
Meet David Wise, another Good Natured Pennsylvanian.
