An EcoRecon Weekend at Poe Valley State Park in Pennsylvania!

The team hikes together while listening to Dr. Blackmen.

Veterans and scientists traveled from across Pennsylvania and Virginia for a weekend of field investigations and recreation at Poe Valley State Park in Central Pennsylvania. Hosted by Veteran Scientist Dr. Taylor Blackmen, a team of veterans and other experts explored the park! Gathering together around shared interests and curiosity, some folks were meeting for the first time. Some were drawn by the fishing, and others were interested in learning more about how to get involved in meaningful outdoor recon. Dr. Blackmen, a navy veteran and expert on soil and wetlands, is based out of Juanita College, and he has collaborated with S2S on a number of events recently. His expertise and enthusiasm for field science has been a great boon to our work in recent months.

The team stopped at several locations throughout the weekend!

Poe Valley and Poe Paddy State Parks exist because of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program launched in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt to put young unemployed men to work restoring America's forests, farms, and public lands during the Great Depression. From 1933 to 1942, the CCC operated 151 camps across Pennsylvania. One of them, Camp S-63, was established in Poe Valley and housed roughly 200 young men of Company 1333. They earned a dollar a day. Five dollars a month stayed with them; twenty-five went home to their families. For many, those three square meals a day and a bunk were the difference between a crisis and a future. What those men built is still here. The dam that holds back 25-acre Poe Lake was completed in 1937 with help from the Works Progress Administration. The roads that wind through the valley, the bridges on the surrounding state roads, the original pavilion at Poe Paddy, and the officers' and forestry quarters, all CCC work. They also cleared brush to prevent forest fires, planted trees to reforest land the 19th-century lumber boom had stripped bare, and cleaned streams. As S2S gathers volunteers and veterans to complete conservation projects at local and national parks throughout the United States, we look to the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps for inspiration in our efforts to protect American wildlife and spread awareness about citizen science opportunities!

Commemorating the outstanding efforts of Company 1333!

Throughout the weekend, the team came across wildlife wherever they went. While checking out the local flora and fauna, the team also got to see some amazing views during their hikes! While these great photos give you a sense of the natural beauty the team got to see, it really is something else being out there. The sense of freedom and exploration that comes from being several miles deep on a trail is truly worth the experience. Combine this with the expertise of team leaders and the real science involved on EcoRecon Expeditions and Trips, and these liberating experiences become imbued with real purpose too! Check out some of the finds and photos below!

The team takes a break to appreciate the view!

We all made new friends while learning, exploring, and having fun together. This was a bit of a kickoff for future S2S programming in Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Juniata College and the Kittatinny Ridge Sentinel Landscape. Stay tuned for summer and fall event flyers coming soon. We hope to put together more EcoRecon trips and expeditions in Pennsylvania during the Fall of 2026 and the Spring of 2027.

Here’s a peaceful video to close out the post. Sometimes you get lucky with moments like this on our trips!