Since the inception of Green Valleys Association in 1964, our members and staff have chronicled our plans, hopes and success though our newsletter. This in-depth resource is uniquely suited to the task of presenting our organization’s history.
Vol. 1 No. 1, April 1965, founding member Everett Rodebaugh:
“Letter from the President”
The purpose of the French Creek Watershed Association is conservation in the broadest sense. Among our major objectives are these: to preserve the natural beauty and rural atmosphere of the area; to protect soil, water, timber, and wildlife; and to aid in the development and coordination of land use plans within and among the townships of north Chester County.
The efforts of the Association are obviously pointed toward the future, hopeful that we may preserve our natural resources for our young citizens as well as for ourselves…A beautiful and relatively unspoiled stream like French Creek is fitted for both fun and learning; we want to see to it that it is kept that way.
The first public meeting of the was held December 2 [1964] at Owen J. Roberts High School. We received advice and encouragement from the speakers, County Commissioner Hazlett, Thomas Dolan from the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, Fred Cadmus, one of our directors, and Robert Struble, executive director of the Brandywine Valley Association and also of the Chester County Water Resources Authority. Our first public venture was brightened also by guests from beyond our area who came to help us celebrate.
The first major undertaking of the French Creek Watershed Association is to employ the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia to perform a survey of the water quality of French Creek. Resulting information will establish the precise condition of the Creek, against which changes may be measured, for better or for worse, and appropriate action recommended. The results of the study will be available to all who may find them helpful…
After careful investigation we have found that no agency of government-federal, state, or county-is prepared to furnish this kind of information, now or soon. It was the considered decision of the Board of Directors, therefore, to take the financial responsibility, on behalf of the Association, of the contract with the Academy. The survey will be made in the fall; at its conclusion we hope that a biologist from the Academy will speak to a public gathering to explain what has been done and why, in terms both scientific and popular.
The French Creek Watershed Association was founded last summer in the conviction not only that such an enterprise should be supported, but that it will indeed be supported, when its purposes and projects become better known.