Presenter: Jim Cummins

PVMN Re-Cert Eligible

This event is free and open to the public.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society welcomes Jim Cummins. Jim will present “When Trees Were Old – Humans and Environmental Change in the Potomac Watershed”.

Mr. Cummins is an ecologist with a natural interest in natural and human history and how they interplay. His geographic area of expertise is the Potomac watershed. He and his wife Nancy live in Bakerton, WV.

His presentation will focus on changes in the ecological landscape of the Potomac basin and vicinity from human contact to present, focusing on the period we know the most about – the landscape just prior to and after the 15th century European contact.

Jim Cummins is Formerly the Director of the Living Resources of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. He has a Masters of Science (1985) in Biology from George Washington University. His projects included biological assessments of streams in WV, MD, PA and DC, environmental flow studies, habitat restoration and fish passage, especially in regard to the Little Falls Dam near Washington, D.C. and a linked American shad stocking program with integrated student and volunteer involvement. Principal ecologist for Anacostia River restoration (urban/suburban impacts). Authored “Flowing to the Future,” a 1995 plan for improving the North Branch, Potomac River which mitigating long-standing acidic mine drainage problems, developed an exceptional trout fishery, and helped improve the economy in that watershed (region). Managed and was the primary author for a multi-disciplinary planning project which produced “The Potomac River Watershed Visions Report.” This report became the foundation for the nomination and eventual designation of the Potomac River as one of the nation’s Heritage Rivers.

Directions:

Morgan County Board of Education Office Building, 247 Harrison Avenue, Berkeley Springs, WV

If traveling on Hwy 522, turn onto Williams Street (at the Train Station/H&R Block corner), then turn left off of Williams St. onto Harrison Avenue. The Board Office is located on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Goff Street.

There are a few parking spaces in the front of the building and a larger parking area around the back of the building (follow Goff St. to the back).

You will enter the building from the front. We will have an Audubon sign pointing you in the correct direction as well as on the door.

Please contact Krista Hawley at adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org or 681-252-1387 with any questions you may have.