The Spring 102/105 Technical Training – Basic/Refresher session provided concentrated classroom instruction to 42 employees from 23 conservation districts and the PA Department of Environmental Protection. The training session took place March 20-23, 2017, in State College, Centre County.

Montgomery County Conservation District recently completed their Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Educational Mini-grant titled, “Montgomery County Golf Course Environmental Education & Outreach.” As part of the project, Agricultural Conservation Specialist Jessica Moldofsky produced a rack card called “The Green: Golf Course Conservation.” In addition to creating one for her county, she also produced one for PACD which any district may reproduce and use. Email swehinger@pacd.org for the full size document or click here for the online version. 

Financial and other support for the NPS Mini-grant Program is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 

Columbia County Conservation District recently held a well-attended outreach event called, “Good Water = Good Coffee.” Watershed Specialist Heather Almer brought together a chemistry professor, a coffee brewmaster from a local coffee house, and their conservation district staff to participate in a discussion at the Bloomsburg Public Library. The event explored how water chemistry and quality plays a role in the flavor of coffee. Coffee samples were compared using hard water, soft water, and filtered soft water to learn how these elements affect taste.

Click here to read more. 

The 2017 National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Poster Contest is now open! The theme is “Healthy Soils are Full of Life!” PACD will be accepting JPEG versions of your county’s winners until June 30, 2017. The digital versions of the posters have been a great help in cutting down on postage and handling costs, and NACD has assured us there are no discrepancies in judging JPEG’s versus hard copies. In fact, it’s their preferred medium. We can’t wait to see all of the artistic entries for this year’s theme!

Click here to read more.

PACD is awarding six scholarships for the PA Association of Environmental Educators annual two-day conference on March 13 and 14, 2017 at the McKeever Environmental Learning Center, Sandy Lake, PA.

Pennsylvania conservation district employees involved in environmental education and outreach are eligible to apply. Click here for the online application starting February 1, 2017. Contact: Terry Fisher at tfisher@pacd.org. The scholarships are made possible through an Environmental Education Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

PACD is partnering with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the State Conservation Commission (SCC) to deliver a three day Introduction to Conservation Planning course. This free training will take place March 14-16, 2017 at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg (Hershey area) in Grantville, PA.

The event is for entry-level employees of all organizations in Pennsylvania delivering conservation planning technical assistance, including but not limited to, NRCS, conservation districts, SCC, farmland preservation entities, non-profits, and private consultants. Lunch will be provided.

The application link will be emailed to those who are interested in taking the course after they have submitted their pre-requisite certificate of completion to swehinger@pacd.org. Click here for information on the pre-requisite. The deadline to apply is February 3, 2017.

Grants up to $2,000 are awarded to conservation districts for adult educational projects that offer strategies for reducing and preventing Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution. Projects should stimulate a local awareness of water quality issues, promote the theme “We All Live Downstream,” and encourage citizen participation in activities to improve water quality in local watersheds.

The deadline for NPS mini-grant applications is March 10, 2017. Click here for the online application and more information.  Questions should be directed to Shannon Wehinger. swehinger@pacd.org

Financial and other support for the NPS Mini-grant Program is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 

More than 350 PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and conservation district staff participated in the Annual Fall 102-105 Meeting on October 25-27, 2016 in State College, PA. The training this year focused on agriculture on day 1, Chapter 102 on day 2 and Chapter 105 on day 3.

In addition to the topic-focused sessions, each day began with a New Technician Orientation Session designed to give technicians with less than two years’ experience an overview of the program that would be covered that day.

DEP and PACD work together to coordinate and plan this event.

Middle school students in Columbia County learned all about water at the Columbia County Conservation District’s 2nd annual Water Education Day: how it is cleaned, how it is distributed, how it gets polluted, how streams and development impact each other, how to better understand its movement in landscape, how to value public water systems, how to identify macroinvertebrates and fish and their relationship to water quality, and how objects in nature can make beautiful art. There were 540 students this year at Briar Creek Lake and over 50 presenters and volunteers, in addition to area high school students who gave a dramatic music and dance performance highlighting the importance of good water quality. Other participants included representatives from county watershed groups, the PA Department of Environmental Protection, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Larson Design, SUEZ, PA American Water, PA Rural Water, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Children’s Museum, and Bloomsburg University. The event was sponsored by the Columbia County Conservation District, PA American Water, and Roaring Creek Valley Conservation Association. Check out more pictures from the day here!

PACD and Water Words That Work, LLC are partnering on four upcoming environmental communication trainings starting in November 2016 and ending in January 2017. How do we get more participation at our programs? How can we effectively reach our target audiences and the general public? What are the most cost-effective means to get the word out about our programs? Find out answers to these questions and more during these webinars. The dates are (all webinars will be held 1-2:30 pm):

• Water Words that Work Webinar Series – November 29, 2016 – December 1, 2016
• More Than a Message – December 6-8, 2016
• Perfect Outreach Projects – December 13-15, 2016
• Perfect Outreach Projects – January 10-12, 2017

Click here for a detailed description of the training. Financial support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection through the Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant, the Clean Water Fund and the Chesapeake Bay Regulatory and Accountability Program (CBRAP).