Nominations are now being accepted for the 2025 Pennsylvania Leopold Conservation Award®.

The award honors farmers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in their management of soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat on working land.

Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust present Leopold Conservation Awards to private landowners in 28 states. In Pennsylvania, the $10,000 award is presented with The Heinz Endowments, Horizon Farm Credit, and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Award nominations may be submitted on behalf of a landowner, or landowners may nominate themselves. The nomination form can be found at www.sandcountyfoundation.org/ApplyLCA.

The nomination deadline date is August 1, 2025. Nominations must be emailed to PennsylvaniaLCA@sandcountyfoundation.org.

The Pennsylvania Leopold Conservation Award is made possible through the generous support from American Farmland Trust, The Heinz Endowments, Horizon Farm Credit, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Sand County Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission, and The Nature Conservancy.

For more information on the award, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.

The 5th Annual Conservation District Video Awards presentation was held on Thursday, February 13, 2025. Clips from nine 2024 district video entries were screened, and awards were presented to the top-scoring videos, including:

• Special Recognition Award: Watermarks, submitted by Indiana County Conservation District
• 1st Place: Streambank Stabilization Resources for Homeowners – Part 1, submitted by Westmoreland Conservation District
• 1st Runner-up: No-Till Drill Instructional Video, submitted by Montgomery County Conservation District
• 2nd Runner-up: Flushing Friday, submitted by Schuylkill Conservation District

Links to all 2024 Video Awards entries and the awards presentation are posted at Building for Tomorrow: https://www.paleadership.org/cdva2024.

Financial and other support for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program is provided through a grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission. Guidance for the Program is provided through the Pennsylvania Conservation Partnership’s Leadership Development Committee.

NEW for 2025: Bragging rights, a trophy, AND money!

Click here for a sneak preview. 

More information and official details to come.

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) theme for the 2025 Stewardship Week is “Home is Where the Habitat is.” This theme highlights the essential role of natural and managed habitats in our conservation efforts. The Stewardship Week theme is also the poster contest theme. Stewardship Week materials are available on the NACD Marketplace. 

The deadline to submit posters to PACD for the 2025 NACD Poster Contest state-level judging is June 30, 2025. Click here for the contest flyer and here for more information.  Questions may be directed to Shannon Wehinger at swehinger@pacd.org.

 

Nominations are being accepted for the PACD Conservation Awards. The award nominations have been simplified and streamlined with an online nomination form. Nominations must be received by April 30, 2025.

The awards are:

• Ann Rudd Saxman Conservation District Director or Associate Director Excellence Award 
• Conservation District Employee Excellence Award 
• Legislator Recognition Award 
• Maurice K. Goddard Award for Excellence in Environmental Recreation 

Contact Shannon Wehinger at swehinger@pacd.org with any questions.

PACD Conservation Planner Grace Rhodes received a FY24 performance award from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In only nine months in her position as the PACD partner planner, Grace has demonstrated a strong commitment to teamwork and supporting NRCS field team members however possible. She has quickly learned about NRCS business tools and the conservation planning process.

Throughout the field team’s historic FY24 contracting season, Grace sought out work to help NRCS staff in contracting a record 58 contracts totaling $5,624.940. Grace learned quickly how to produce conservation plan maps and other documents in Conservation Desktop. She regularly offered her help to other planners to assist with various map creation for both the Perkasie and Bethlehem NRCS offices. Without Grace’s assistance, the field team would not have been able to meet contract obligation deadlines.

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the theme for the 2025 Stewardship Week: “Home is Where the Habitat is.” This theme highlights the essential role of both natural and managed habitats in our conservation efforts. The Stewardship Week theme is also the poster contest theme. Stewardship Week materials are available on the NACD Marketplace. 

The deadline to submit posters to PACD for 2025 NACD Poster Contest state-level judging is June 30, 2025. Click here for the contest flyer and here for more information. Questions may be directed to Shannon Wehinger at swehinger@pacd.org.

The Cumberland County Conservation District recently held its annual awards picnic and board meeting. The district presented four conservation awards for 2024. They were:

• Farmer of the Year – Neil Darhower
• Legislator Recognition Award – Barbara Gleim
• Erosion Control Clean Water Award – Mike Wadel of Wadel-Mell Inc.
• Educator of the Year – Darla Romberger

 

Over 100 people celebrated the accomplishments of students, environmental organizations, and individuals on Monday, July 28, 2024, at the Oley Fairgrounds, Jefferson Street, Oley, PA.

The Berks County Conservation District awarded over $20,000 in scholarships and also awarded a $1,500 scholarship from the Pine Creek Watershed Association.

Also presented were awards to individuals and organizations for their outstanding work in conservation, environmental, and agricultural best management practices in Berks County.

Click here to find out who the award winners were. 

The 2024 PACD honorees are as follows: 

Legislator Leadership Award

• State Representative Barbara Gleim, Nominated by Cumberland County Conservation District

President’s Award

• Amy Brown, Director of Programs & Operations, PACD

Ann Rudd Saxman Conservation District Director Excellence Award

• Charles Duritsa, Vice-Chairman, Westmoreland Conservation
• District and PACD Secretary

Conservation District Employee Excellence Award

• Vincent McCollum, Cumberland County Conservation District

Conservation District Trash Champion

• Westmoreland Conservation District collected 11 tons of trash!

Instagram Photo Contest

• Lancaster County Conservation District posted fun and creative photos of conservation districts at work during Conservation District Week.

Conservation District Employee Service Recognition Awards

30 Years of Service

• John Dryzal, District Manager, Cambria
• Mark Stockley, Resource Conservation Supervisor, Cambria

35 Years of Service

• Dave Stoner, District Manager, Franklin

45 Years of Service

• Tammie Robinson, Office Administrator, Indiana

Click here to read the entire press release.