In February, Montgomery County Conservation District (MCCD) presented a nonpoint source pollution prevention and watershed awareness program to Penn State Master Watershed Stewards from Bucks and Montgomery Counties. In March, the district co-led a site tour with native live stake harvesting and installation, as well as with Penn State Master Watershed Stewards. The site tour was co-led with the Perkiomen Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter.

The project was funded by PACD’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Mini-grant Program.

Financial and other support for this project 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.

 

Westmoreland Conservation District hosted the 2025 Southwest PA Soil Health Conference in Latrobe, PA, where participants learned about various agricultural innovations. Topics focused on soil health, and included cover crops, riparian buffers, maximizing forage inventory, grazing research, and grant programs available to the agricultural community, including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Multiple continuing education credits were available. The project cost $1,941 and was funded through PACD’s CREP mini-grant program.

Financial and other support for the CREP Outreach Program Office Mini-grant Program is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a Growing Greener Watershed Protection grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and with additional support from USDA-NRCS.

Jefferson County Conservation District recently held a Farmer Workshop in Brookville, PA. The workshop included presentations on manure management guidelines, improving soil health, and pond management. Each presentation reviewed the impacts of nonpoint source pollution and conservation practices that keep manure, sediment, and pesticides out of our waterways.

Financial and other support for this project 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.

 

Submitted by Abby Reiter, Ag Conservation Specialist, Montgomery County Conservation District

Montgomery County Conservation District (MCCD) partnered with Penn State Extension, the Montgomery County Planning Commission, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts through an educational grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to film a video demonstrating the use of a no-till drill, which is available for rental through MCCD. This video provides a step-by-step guide on how to set up, calibrate, and use the no-till drill for planting.

This project aimed to create an educational video that serves as a resource for participants of the no-till drill rental program and provides general agricultural conservation education to promote no-till planting. The drill can be used for no-till seeding, pasture renovation, planting of pollinator plots, lawn-to-meadow conversion, and basin naturalization.

Click here to watch the video. 

Financial and other support for this project 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.

 

PACD accepts mini-grant applications from conservation districts for up to $3,000 to implement educational and outreach activities that support and extend the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Projects should focus on CREP enrollment, re-enrollment, and/or CREP maintenance.

Applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis until funds are expended. The project completion and final report deadline is May 2, 2025.

Project examples include:

– Walkabouts/field days

– Farmer and landowner workshops

– Riparian buffer workshops

– Workshop series with several topics

– Developing educational materials like brochures, flyers, fact sheets, or even billboards

– Hiring interns to provide CREP outreach

Click here for the guidelines, application, and reporting documents for the CREP mini-grant program.

Financial and other support for the CREP Outreach Program Office Mini-grant Program is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a Growing Greener Watershed Protection grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and with additional support from USDA-NRCS.

On Saturday, July 27, 2024, more than 20 community members joined the Pike County Conservation District for an educational program titled “Barrels & Breakfast” to learn about stormwater management and pollution reduction. Eighteen households each took home a 55-gallon rain barrel to install on their property. After installation, the rain barrels will capture and divert a total of nearly 1,000 gallons of stormwater for each large rainstorm.

Financial and other support for this project 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.

PACD is accepting mini-grant applications from conservation districts for up to $3,000 to implement educational and outreach activities that support and extend the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Projects should focus on CREP enrollment, re-enrollment, and/or CREP maintenance.

Applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis until funds are expended. The project completion and final report deadline is extended to October 31, 2024.

Project examples include:

– Walkabouts/field days

– Farmer and landowner workshops

– Riparian buffer workshops

– Workshop series with several topics

– Developing educational materials like brochures, flyers, fact sheets, or even billboards

– Hire interns to provide CREP outreach

Click here for the guidelines, application, and reporting documents for the CREP mini-grant program. 

Financial and other support for the CREP Outreach Program Office Mini-grant Program is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a Growing Greener Watershed Protection grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and with additional support from USDA-NRCS.

 

The Columbia County Conservation District held two separate rain barrel workshops. The 49 attendees learned about non-point source pollution, how it affects our waterways, and best management practices that can be used at home to reduce stormwater.

Thanks to partners at Rohrbach’s Farm Market and the Coca-Cola syrup factory near Allentown, who donated all the barrels for free, the district was able to host two workshops instead of the original plan to hold one. A total of 45 50-gallon rain barrels were distributed to be installed around Columbia County to reduce stormwater.

Financial and other support for this project 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.

Last fall, the McKean County Conservation District held an Erosion Control in Our Forests Workshop. Thirty foresters, loggers, logging contractors, and private forest landowners attended the event. Attendees learned more about the fundamentals of erosion control, permitting, planning before a timber harvest, best management practices to implement during the harvest, and stream crossing practices.

The workshop was made possible through a multi-county effort by the conservation districts of Tioga, Potter, Cameron, Elk, and McKean Counties in cooperation with the PA Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Implementation Committee and PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry.

Financial and other support for this project 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.

 

Pennsylvania’s county conservation districts were awarded nearly $37,000 for twenty-one pollution reduction projects in twenty counties. These projects will educate adults on water pollution prevention. The projects are funded through the Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution Prevention Educational Mini-Grant Program and will take place over the next year.

Click here to read the entire press release and here for a summary of funded projects. 

Financial and other support for this project 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.