On Friday, August 25, 2023, the Cambria County Conservation District held a legislative boat tour of Glendale Lake. The lake is located at Prince Gallitzin State Park.

PACD 1^st Vice President Emil Bove represented PACD at the event, which highlighted improvements made to the lake over the last thirteen years.

Click here to read a news article on the event. 

Dickinson College Farm received a $250,000 grant from the Cumberland County Conservation District for a dairy cattle facility as part of significant upgrades for the farm’s innovative biodigester project.

According to Matt Steiman, the farm’s livestock and energy projects manager, the biodigester system will process the manure from 150 local dairy cows plus two tons of food waste daily. The food waste will be sourced from places such as Dickinson’s dining services, Project SHARE, the Carlisle Area School District, and Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (from which the farm has already processed over 70,000 pounds of spent grain). It will generate about 200,000-300,000 kWh per year of renewable electricity. With that electricity, the farm will power its operations and the planned Farm Lab education facility and sell the remainder back to Met-Ed, a Pennsylvania-based power company. This undertaking is designed to be a roadmap for others to follow.

Click here to watch a short YouTube video on the project. 

 

 

Union County Conservation District hosted a booth at Hoover Tractor’s Farm Safety and Wildlife Day on July 22, 2023. Attendees who stopped by the district’s booth learned about the dangers associated with liquid manure storage.

Live demonstrations of real manure agitation were performed with hydrogen sulfide gas monitors placed nearby to pick up readings of the toxic gas given off during manure agitation. Two hydrogen sulfide gas monitors were raffled off to operators with liquid manure storages to keep themselves safe when they handle their manure. Other key safety points included having a fence around the storage with a locking gate and displaying the correct warning signs around the storage.

 

The Lebanon County Conservation District received a CREP mini-grant for $877.00. Using the grant funds, the district offered a field day that included a riparian buffer planting as part of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) education and outreach event. Nineteen volunteers attended to learn about CREP, specifically the installation and maintenance of riparian buffers. Folks who attended received CREP resources such as fact sheets and brochures.

PACD is currently accepting CREP mini-grant applications on a rolling basis until funds are expended. Projects must be completed, and final reports submitted, by December 1, 2023. Click here for more information and to apply.

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 Union County Conservation District held a Regenerative Dairy Meeting in Lewisburg on June 13, 2023. Dairy farmers and manure handlers were invited to attend.

The meeting intended to introduce operators to newer, regenerative practices that can mainly be implemented on dairy operations and provide the necessary resources to help get all conservation practices on the ground. There was a discussion targeted toward manure handlers and the considerations that must be accounted for before field applying manure. The meeting was approved for Certified Manure Hauler/Broker Continuing Education credits.

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.

On August 11, 2023, Indiana County Conservation District held a Legislative Bus Tour. District Manager Doug Beri, Jr. said, “The bus tour was another great success. We toured six project sites, including four DGLVR projects that featured practices including stream crossings, road fill, and cross pipes; a future rotational grazing system that will be funded through ACAP; and an oxic limestone drain that is part of nine phases of abandoned mine drainage restoration in the Bear Run Watershed which drains to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Thirty attendees representing local, state, and federal legislative offices as well as several partners participated in the tour.”

Submitted by Columbia County Conservation District

On Saturday, July 29, 2023, the Columbia County Conservation District, in conjunction with the four non-profit watershed organizations in the county, hosted the 2nd Annual Susquehanna Valley Watershed Festival at Briar Creek Lake Park in Berwick, PA. 

The main goal of the festival is to educate the public, especially kids, on the importance of our watersheds, water quality, and all of our natural resources as well as raise awareness for conservation needs and the continuous hard work that many non-profits, government agencies, and private organizations put in to achieve conservation goals and protect our resources.

Click here to read the entire article. 

 

Submitted by Butler County Conservation District

The Butler County Conservation District hosted a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program/Best Management Practices (CREP/BMP) Field Day on July 28, 2023, at the BGN Farm owned by Jeff Grazier. Farmers interested in participating in CREP registered with the USDA Farm Service Agency for the event. This was an opportunity to learn about Jeff’s operation and the different programs and funding sources available to assist farms in Butler County. The field day was funded through the CREP Mini-grant Program for Conservation Districts. Click here for more information and to apply. 

Click here to read more. 

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 July 31, 2023, Berks County Conservation District held its Annual Scholarship and Awards Dinner. The event was held at the Oley Fairgrounds in Oley, PA. During the celebration, the district awarded $24,000 in scholarships and recognized several businesses and individuals.

Award Winners:

• Chair’s Award – John Ravert
• Contractor of the Year – H&K Group
• Plan Preparer of the Year – LTL Consultants
• Conservation Organization of the Year – Blue Marsh, US Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia Division
• Conservation Individuals of the Year – Tami Hildebrand and Joseph Boyle, Mt. Penn Water Authority
• Farm of the Year – Vista Grande Farms, LLC, the Bitler Family

 

 

Reprinted with permission from the Berks County Conservation District News, Events and Updates on July 13, 2023.

In October of 2022, the Berks County Conservation District, in partnership with the Salvation Army of Reading, began transforming the Tyson Schoener Elementary School courtyard into a garden space where children would learn to grow food.

This project is part of a larger Urban Agriculture Initiative growing within the City of Reading, connecting residents with locally grown food by teaching them how to grow fresh produce and spreading their knowledge within their communities.

Click here to read the entire article.