The Cambria County Library Children’s Department created a video featuring staff member Jackie Ritko talking about the various animals at the district’s education center.
Click here to view the video and here to read more about the Disaster’s Edge Environmental Education Center.
The Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive species that is spreading across Pennsylvania. One control method a homeowner can easily implement is the installation of sticky traps. Karen Wilwol, Watershed Specialist for the Delaware County Conservation District, is putting these traps on several trees in county-owned parks for demonstration purposes. This video shows how one of these traps was installed at Rose Tree Park.
Click here to watch the video.
Wetlands can have major impacts on our lives, but what in the world is a wetland anyway?
In this video, the Crawford County Conservation District discusses specific wetland qualities and why they’re important to us and our ecosystems.
Click here to view the video.
Lancaster County Conservation District’s Spotted Lanternfly Technician Amanda Goldsmith has created a how-to video. In the video Amanda shares instructions on how to set up sticky tape tree bands to control and monitor spotted lanternfly. She uses two bycatch prevention best management practices including 2-3-inch-wide strips and chicken wire around the tape. These combine to reduce wildlife, such as endangered bats and birds, getting stuck on the tape while catching just as many spotted lanternflies.
Click here to view the tree banding video.
Columbia County Conservation District is launching a brand-new program to promote sustainable backyard practices. The “Better Backyards” Certificate program is open to all Columbia County residential, business, school, and municipal lands.
This program aims to provide habitat for the county’s native flora and fauna, improve water quality and soil health, manage stormwater and erosion, reduce pollutants, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The district is holding a webinar to launch the program on Friday, July 17, 2020, from Noon-1:00 p.m. Please register in advance for this webinar at: https://columbiaccd.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=20fd2bb3ba37aee106cc475c2&id=a51ea7ec8f&e=12ce2eb304
For more info about the “Better Backyards” Certificate Program go to www.columbiaccd.org/betterbackyards.
The Lebanon County Conservation District (LCCD) scheduled a rain barrel workshop that was postponed due to the coronavirus and finally had to be held virtually. LCCD Watershed Specialist Stephanie Harmon educated participants on non-point source pollution via a PowerPoint presentation. They were introduced to the concepts of water quality, quantity, and how homeowners can help minimize non-point source (NPS) pollution in and around their own homes. Specifically, they were introduced to local sources of NPS pollution and how a rain barrel can be used as one measure to minimize NPS pollution and conserve water.
Through this grant, twenty-four rain barrels were purchased and distributed to workshop participants. Those receiving rain barrels scheduled time on June 4 or 5, 2020, to pick up their rain barrel at the Lebanon Valley Agricultural Center. Pick-ups were scheduled at 15-minute intervals to implement social distancing.
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.
As part of their Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Educational Mini-grant Project, the Beaver County Conservation District held two workshops in early March. The goal was to train local farmers in the development of manure management and agricultural erosion and sedimentation plans. Four manure management plans were completed as a result of the project.
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.
Crawford County Conservation District Resource Conservation Technician Sydney Holler recently created a short video, “Are You Ready for Construction Season?” The video provides an overview of an often-missed component of new construction – erosion and sedimentation control.
Click here to view and share the three-minute video.
Throughout June, Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD) will host a lunch-and-learn webinar series about streams and stormwater. Each week, ACCD staff will walk attendees through an essential aspect of stream health and stormwater systems. Sessions will build on each other to explain the relationship between human activity and water quality. These webinars will also review strategies to improve regional water quality and manage stormwater. Registration is free but required: https://bit.ly/2M7VoGx.
View previous webinars on soil, erosion control, tree planting, and manure management here: https://bit.ly/2TQxBz0.
Bucks County Conservation District’s summer intern, Baileigh Rosado, launched a web series on backyard vegetable gardening on the district’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bucksccd/.
Every Sunday, she posts a video documenting her journey building a raised garden bed. She shows viewers how to start their own garden, as well as some educational videos along the way. Check out her first video here on the benefits and potential drawbacks of gardening and how to know if it’s right for you!