The 2022 Virtual Conservation District and PA Agency Ag Meeting will be held via Zoom from February 23-24, 2022. CConservation district agricultural technicians, watershed specialists, and management, CAP coordinators, and staff from PA state agencies and USDA-NRCS, are invited to attend. Registration is free and required.

Formerly known as the All Bay Meeting, this annual meeting has been expanded to include sessions relevant to conservation districts across the state and more focused sessions for conservation districts within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The draft agenda includes topics such as agency updates, successful private/public partnerships, soil health education support for CAP implementation, getting credit for projects and practices through data management and reporting, a walkthrough of the Clean Water Academy, county CAP updates, funding, leveraging partners to get projects on the ground, targeted restoration using EPA’s Recovery Potential Screening Tool, and other timely and relevant sessions.

Click here for more information and to register.  

PACD will hold virtual meetings for all six PACD committees and PACD Executive Council via Zoom this January. Committees will meet between January 5 and 19, followed by PACD Executive Council on January 27.

Registration is open to all conservation district directors, associate directors, and staff, as well as partner agency staff and invited guests. Registration for each meeting is free and required. Registrants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting and instructions to participate. A phone number will also be provided for anyone who wishes to participate via conference call.

Please email the listed contact to request a registration link:

January 5, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

PACD Conservation Committee Video Conference

Contact mburns@pacd.org for a link to register

 

January 7, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

PACD District Employees Committee Video Conference

Contact hmiller@pacd.org for a link to register

 

January 11, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

PACD Education and Outreach Committee Video Conference

Contact swehinger@pacd.org for a link to register

 

January 14, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

PACD Legislative Committee Video Conference

Contact mburns@pacd.org for a link to register

 

January 18, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

PACD Ways and Means Committee Video Conference

Contact abrown@pacd.org for a link to register

 

January 19, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

PACD Operations Committee Video Conference

Contact mburns@pacd.org for a link to register

 

January 27, 2022 | 10-Noon

PACD Executive Council Video Conference

Contact mburns@pacd.org for a link to register

 

Mark your calendars for February 23 & 24 (dates updated 12/14/21) for the 2022 Virtual Conservation District and PA Agency Ag Meeting. The meeting will include information and updates on current programs and what to expect in the future. The first day will provide statewide information, followed by a day focused on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Staff from PA state agencies, USDA-NRCS, and conservation districts are encouraged to attend.

More information to come! Registration will open in January.

Please get in touch with Holly Miller at hmiller@pacd.org with questions.

PACD will again partner with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and host a Conservation District booth at the 2022 PA Farm Show.

We still need volunteers to staff the booth for the following days and times (one or two volunteers per shift):

Sunday, January 9                12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Monday, January 10              12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 11             12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 12         12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 15            12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Would you please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to fill one of these shifts?   You can contact Diane Young at dyoung@pacd.org with your contact information and the shift you’d like to fill.

Mark your calendars for the winter round of PACD committees, which will take place via video conference prior to the virtual 2022 PACD Executive Council Meeting. Registration will be both free and required. Keep an eye out for registration information in a future edition of Front Page.

PACD Conservation Committee Video Conference

January 5, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

 

PACD District Employees Committee Video Conference

January 7, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

 

PACD Education and Outreach Committee Video Conference

January 11, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

 

PACD Legislative Committee Video Conference

January 14, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

 

PACD Ways and Means Committee Video Conference

January 18, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

 

PACD Operations Committee Video Conference

January 19, 2022 | 10-11 a.m.

At its November meeting, the PACD Executive Board voted to hold PACD Winter Meeting activities virtually. The winter 2022 PACD Executive Council Meeting will take place as a video conference on January 27 at 10:00 a.m. Committees will meet virtually prior to the Executive Council session, so watch future editions of Front Page for committee dates. Need to update your district’s slate of voting delegates prior to January? Contact Molly with PACD at mburns@pacd.org.

PACD is offering complimentary space at our 2022 Farm Show booth to conservation districts who would like to set up a display for a day and educate folks from all over the state. It’s an opportunity to highlight your district, your county, and what’s going on in your neck of Penn’s Woods. If your district has an exhibit that travels easily and you would like to spend a few hours enjoying the Farm Show, then this opportunity is for you.

The show will be held January 8 through 15, 2022.

Let us know as soon as possible if your district would like to reserve a day. Please contact Diane Young at dyoung@pacd.org by November 30 with the type of display you have to offer.

On October 21, 2021, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn traveled to Adams County. A ceremonial tree was planted at Knouse Foods by the Secretary and a representative from Knouse.

PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh also attended the event and presented the 2021 Maurice K. Goddard Award for Excellence in Environmental Recreation to Secretary Dunn.

On September 29, 2021, the Somerset Conservation District (SCD) held the Stonycreek-Conemaugh River Improvement Project’s 30th Anniversary Tour. SCD Manager Len Lichvar kicked off the tour of the Oven Run Watershed Mine Drainage Abatement Site D near Hooversville then handed it over to PACD staff. PACD Conservation Engineer Danielle Kalp, PE, and PACD Conservation Technician Philip Wilson showed attendees how the water is treated. Also, SCD Watershed Specialist Greg Shustrick contributed to the tour.

PACD immediate past President and South West Region Director Mike Price attended on behalf of the PACD Executive Board.

Click here to read an article and view photos of the event. 

Formal and non-formal educators convened in Harrisburg on September 23, 2021, for The Dive Deeper Summit. The summit gathers youth water educators in the Mid-Atlantic Region that pairs knowledge and resource sharing with networking opportunities. Attendees could participate in person or virtually this year.

Shannon Wehinger, PACD Director of Communications and Education, and conservation district staff attended the summit. The summit provided ample opportunities to experience hands-on activities to enhance water education.