Recently, the Lancaster County Conservation District celebrated its 71st Annual Banquet, honoring conservation efforts in Lancaster County. Recipients were recognized for their contributions to conserving natural resources. The event also included an auction that directly supports the district’s Ann Brown Scholarship for high school seniors. PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh attended the event.

Award recipients included:

• Watershed Project Award Recipients: Donegal Trout Unlimited, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Unique Excavating, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Building Industry Resource Conservation Award Recipients: Kinsley Construction, RETTEW, and High Associates
• Conservation School Service Award: Frank Wasco

Click here to read a press release on the banquet. 

On March 18, 2024, the Franklin County Conservation District presented to over 60 local contractors. The presentation was divided into two groups: one in English and one translated into Spanish.

Topics included perimeter E&S controls, temporary/permanent seed mixtures, bonded fiber matrix, soil amendments, and failed Post-Construction Stormwater Management best management practices.

Indiana County Conservation District planted seven multifunctional riparian forest buffers in Indiana County last year. The projects covered almost 13 acres and were paid for through PACD’s Multifunctional Riparian Buffer Sub-grant Program.

1.4 acres along Cheese Run = $2,555.97
0.91 acres along McCarthy Run = $1,972.48
0.74 acres along Cherry Run = $1,407.21
0.72 acres along Weirs Run = $927.30
3.5 acres along Leasure Run = $3,842.59
3.3 acres along Reeds Run = $6,109.69
2.25 acres along Reeds Run = $4,505.87

Click here to see more photos from the 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 Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

The Snyder County Conservation District (SCCD) held its annual Farmers Winter Meeting outside Selinsgrove on February 16, 2024. Seventy people attended the meeting.

Topics included the district’s soil health bucket program, managing soils for phosphorus, and helping farmers better utilize nitrogen for corn production during the growing season while potentially decreasing nitrogen losses in the environment.

Click here to read the entire article and see more photos from the event. 

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.

The Pike County Conservation District has two new episodes of its podcast.

January episode– The Forestry Frontier

Our January Science on Tap speaker Logan Goddard, DCNR Service Forester for Pike/Monroe, and our local DCNR Fire Forester Garrett Beers are interviewed in this episode! Tune in as they discuss their favorite forestry factoids, sustainable forest management practices, and how deer affect our woods.

February episode – Hidden Geocache Treasures in Pike County

There’s a hidden treasure in Pike County, PA– and anyone can join the treasure hunt! In this episode, Jess Yoder, Assistant Planning Director, and Preservation Planner at the Pike County Planning & Mapping Office, shares the basics of geocaching, how to get started searching our area, and some of her favorite geocaching stories.

Click here to listen. 

Article by Isabela Weiss, WVIA News, Report for America (reprinted with permission)

Farmers shared experiences at Tioga County’s Women in Agriculture event.

Hosted by the Tioga County Conservation District, women traveled to network with other farmers across the state. Dairy farmer Julie Hess was a speaker at Tuesday’s event. She has attended every Women in Agriculture event since it started ten years ago.

“I’ve been coming to the Women in Ag meetings since they started holding it. And I’ve been bringing my daughter with me, even when she was in like fifth or sixth grade, because I think it’s important for female agricultural producers to meet other female agricultural producers,” said Hess. “But they say that women in agriculture is like the largest growing sector of farmers.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2017 Census found that women comprise 36 percent of the country’s 3.4 million agricultural producers and that newer farmers are skewing younger. The 2022 Census will come out in Feb. 2024.

Click here to read the entire article. 

 

Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD) hosted The Flow of Development in Allegheny County, a workshop for stakeholders and professionals on Allegheny County development patterns and mapping of existing stormwater infrastructure. This marks the first time ACCD has compiled datasets and mapped National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permit applications in Allegheny County. These valuable datasets, designed to enhance transparency and collaboration, will be publicly accessible on the ACCD and Western Pennsylvania Data Center websites starting January 30, 2024.

Conservation Districts can now watch a recording of the event here or click here to read the press release.  

On January 23, 2024, Cumberland County Conservation District hosted a cooperating agency meeting in Newville, PA. Forty-three people attended the meeting. The goal of the meeting was to network and hear about the agency’s accomplishments in 2023 and provide important information about 2024 activities. PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh participated in the event.

Cooperating agencies that participated include Farmland Preservation, Cumberland County Planning Department, Capital RC&D, USDA Farm Service Agency, Vector Control, Penn State Extension, PA Department of Environmental Protection, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, HRG, Kings Gap Environmental Center, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, PA Game Commission, and PACD.

In October 2023, the Bucks County Conservation District (BCCD) hosted two adult workshops on non-point source (NPS) pollution principles, reaching 40+ participants. Both workshops were held in the more populus and urbanized southern third of Bucks County, where municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) programs are in varying stages of development. Each workshop targeted audiences of either municipal representatives or residential property owners. One workshop presented the utility and efficiency of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) to local municipal engineers and public works teams. While the other workshop introduced residents to the community benefits and DIY options associated with SLOW –SOAK –STORE stormwater best management practices. 

These workshops represented a joint effort by Bucks County Conservation District, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards, Friends of Poquessing Watershed, Bensalem Township, and Lower Southampton Township.

To see other upcoming events with BCCD, please visit https://bucksccd.org.

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

Lawrence County Conservation District held two rain barrel workshops. Forty-eight participants received education regarding watersheds, nonpoint source pollution, water quality, stormwater management, and best management practices to help reduce stormwater runoff.

The presentations were followed by a tour of a rain garden and cistern used in the local community garden. Thirty rain barrels with adapter kits were distributed during the workshops.

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.