PACD has $36,000 available in the current riparian buffer grant. If any conservation districts are planting buffers this year, please apply for funding to install riparian forest buffers in conjunction with landowners. Multi-functional riparian forest buffers are encouraged, but conventional buffers are also accepted. This grant is first come, first served. The grant round will stay open until funds are expended or June 30, 2025, whichever comes first. 

Click here for more information or email Holly Miller hmiller@pacd.org.

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.

In the summer of 2023, the Lawrence County Conservation District (LCCD) was granted $105,000 by the Lawrence County Commissioners with funds received from Norfolk Southern Railway. The funds were part of a grant to Beaver and Lawrence Counties to be used to benefit the residents of both counties in the wake of the East Palestine train derailment. From those funds, the district established a mini-grant program to benefit the residents and businesses in Lawrence County. Applicants could apply for up to $5,000 to fund projects aligned with the conservation district’s mission of clean water, healthy soil, and environmental education.

LCCD awarded 25 grants totaling $105,000. The program was open to all residents and businesses in the county, but applicants in the southwestern part of the county closest to the derailment site were given an opportunity to apply early. Grant applications were reviewed and approved by the LCCD board of directors, and projects were inspected upon completion before payment was made.

All of the grant projects have now been completed. LCCD is happy to report the results of the funding: two grants paid for soil and animal health testing, three grants went to apiary (honey bee) improvements, nine animal drinking water and pasture improvement projects were completed, three farm operations improved their manure storage and handling facilities, two streambank stabilization and improvement projects were completed, an animal stream crossing was completed, three farm markets improved their infrastructure, and four educational programs were held.

LCCD wants to thank the Lawrence County Commissioners for their support of our work and their confidence that we would make good use of the funding. LCCD also thanks all of the grant recipients for their enthusiastic participation and timely completion of their projects. It has been very gratifying to see all of the good work that was done with a little funding and a lot of local cooperation.

 

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the 2025 recipients of the Friends of NACD District Grants Program during NACD’s Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT.  

The Friends of NACD District Grants Program supports voluntary, locally led conservation education, youth development, and food security projects proposed by conservation districts across the NACD network.

Congratulations to McKean County Conservation District who received a grant for their “Building Environmental Stewards Initiative–Northwinds 4-H Camp” project. Through a partnership with Penn State Extension, the McKean County Conservation District will provide a hands-on climate-resilience-focused educational program encompassing natural resource topics to youth within a five-county area. 

Click here to read the press release. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced the recipients of the Growing Greener Plus grant program. These projects work to protect waterways and watersheds, reclaim abandoned mine sites, and work to reclaim and plug abandoned oil and gas wells. This year’s awards exceed $15 million statewide.

Thirty-two conservation district projects were funded:

• Allegheny County Conservation District – $58,000 for the Mamone BMP Implementation Project
• Allegheny County Conservation District – $50,000 for Plum Stormwater Project: Phase 1 Design/Permit
• Beaver County Conservation District – $439,679 for Brush Creek Ag BMP #2
• Beaver County Conservation District – $33,882 for Dilworth Run-North Fork Little Beaver Creek Streambank Stabilization Design and Construction
• Butler County Conservation District – $256,500 for Tomjack Creek Watershed Rehabilitation II
• Butler County Conservation District – $349,167 for the Altman Heavy Use Area
• Butler County Conservation District – $358,320 for Bauldoff Farm
• Cambria County Conservation District – $222,938 for Bay Watershed Projects Phase II
• Cambria County Conservation District – $260,932 for Ohio River Watershed Projects Phase II
• Carbon County Conservation District – $142,000 for the Hunter Creek Restoration Project
• Chester County Conservation District – $218,400 for the Mushroom Farm Resource Conservationist
• Clearfield County Conservation District – $200,000 for Clearfield County Agricultural and Stream Restoration BMP Implementation
• Clinton County Conservation District – $117,000 for Long Spring Run Stream Restoration and Stream Stabilization
• Columbia County Conservation District – $395,000 for the Multi-County Soil Health Project
• Elk County Conservation District – $87,002 for the Stream Improvement and Rain Garden Project–Upper Clarion River Watershed
• Huntingdon County Conservation District – $124.000 for bridging a funding gap for Agricultural BMPs
• Indiana County Conservation District – $114,600 for the Indiana County Agricultural BMP Design Project
• Indiana County Conservation District – $175,336 for Little Mahoning Streambank Stabilization Phase I
• Juniata County Conservation District – $288,427 for Juniata County Agricultural BMP Implementation
• Juniata County Conservation District – $182,223 for East Licking Creek Stream Restoration Projects
• Lehigh County Conservation District – $127,250 for Lehigh County Stream Restoration Projects
• McKean County Conservation District – $263,259 for the McKean County Stream Crossing Restoration Initiative
• Mercer County Conservation District – $143,140 for the Neshannock Creek Fish Habitat Project
• Montour County Conservation District – $258,080 for the Mahoning Creek Manure Storage Project
• Potter County Conservation District – $36,835 for Streambank Stabilization Projects
• Schuylkill Conservation District – $74,151 for the Little Mahanoy Creek Headwaters Restoration Project
• Schuylkill Conservation District – $236,375 for Upper Mahantango Creek Agricultural BMP Projects
• Somerset County Conservation District – $266,986 for the Laurel Hill Creek Fish Habitat Enhancement Project
• Tioga County Conservation District – $130,000 for Lycoming Creek Erosion Mitigation Project Phase I
• Union County Conservation District – $317,832 for Winfield Creek Stream Improvements
• Venango Conservation District – $18,096 for the East Branch Sugar Creek Protection Project
• Washington County Conservation District – $121,705 for the 2024 Route 519 Stream Restoration Project

For more information on the Growing Greener Plus grant program, application guidance, and to sign up for notifications when grant programs reopen, visit DEP’s webpage, Growing Greener Plus Grants Program. 

 

PACD was awarded a $1,000,000 grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission (SCC) to offer an Ag Plan Reimbursement Program for conservation districts over the course of two years.

Waitlist applications are now being accepted on an ongoing basis, with priority given to ag plans being developed for either a preserved farm or acres that are being considered for easement sale through the Farmland Preservation Program.

New application forms and other information about the program can be found here. 

Financial and other support for the Ag Plan Reimbursement Program is provided through a grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded more than $3.4 million in grants to projects to improve water quality and fish and wildlife habitat throughout Pennsylvania’s part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and other watersheds.

The 12 awards are funded by the Section 319 Grant program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and selected by DEP.

The following conservation districts and their partners received grants:

• Bucks County Conservation District: $224,830
• Huntingdon County Conservation District: $80,000
• Lancaster County Conservation District: $390,625
• Schuylkill Conservation District (2 projects): $273,000 and $214,000
• Snyder County Conservation District: $56,968
• York County Conservation District: $184,579 

Click here to read more about the projects. 

 

Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD) is proud to announce it has received funding from both the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program administered through the United States Department of Agriculture. This funding will advance urban agriculture and ACCD’s Urban Soils Program across the region.

This funding enables ACCD to strengthen partnerships with local farmers and community groups to address urban soil contaminants and support farm and garden projects. Over the past eight years, ACCD’s Urban Soils Program has served as a regional model, raising awareness about the health risks of soil lead exposure and providing technical assistance for safe food production. In 2023 alone, ACCD screened 1,592 soil samples, valued at $47,760, free of charge.

This funding will expand soil testing for heavy metals, particularly lead, and implementation and monitoring of best management practices to improve soil health and promote healthy food production.

Click here to read more. 

 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) selected Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD) and partners to provide outreach, education, and technical assistance to urban agricultural producers.

This $9 million USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) grant is administered through To Improve Mississippi Economics (TIME) and funds urban farm outreach initiatives in 10 U.S. cities. This grant is part of a broader $40 million investment enabled by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

The funding will support a collaboration among technical service providers to assist urban farmers in learning about and accessing resources. Partners include PASA Sustainable Agriculture, Chatham University, Grow Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, and Hilltop Urban Farm.

ACCD and partners were awarded $894,000, with 38 percent of funding going directly to urban farmers in the form of microgrants to develop critical farm infrastructure. Another percentage supports programs of the partner organizations.

Click here to read more. 

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the 2024 Urban and Community Conservation (UAC) grant initiative recipients. These grants are open to any conservation district or tribe within the U.S. and its territories.

Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD) received a $60,000 UAC Implementation Grant. Their project is: “Cultivating healthy soil, just urban agriculture, and community orchards to support Pittsburgh’s communities’ vision for fresh food production.” ACCD and Tree Pittsburgh are collaborating to test and remediate soil on urban agriculture sites throughout Allegheny County, then plant them with edible fruit and nut trees, berries, other perennial edibles and native wildflowers, creating biodiverse and beautiful public orchards that produce free food for residents.

Westmoreland Conservation District received a $10,000 UAC Planning Grant. Their project is: “Identifying Underserved Communities and Evaluating their Needs for Urban Agriculture in Westmoreland County.” The district will identify underserved communities, potential partners, and their specific needs for urban agriculture, which will allow the district to develop a plan to better serve them. The district will learn what resources are available and be able to enhance their capacity to deliver technical assistance.

Since 2016, NACD has led the efforts of this successful grant program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help conservation districts and tribes build capacity for urban technical assistance and small-scale conservation, while addressing community needs in both rural and urban areas.

Click here to read the press release. 

 

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a 2024-year round of funding for Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund projects, with additional funds provided by the William Penn Foundation, AstraZeneca, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Berks County Conservation District will receive $127,000 through the program. The grant will assist forest landowners with enrollment into forest management cost-share programs, improving forest health, habitat for golden-winged warbler, and resiliency in the Kittatinny and Schuylkill Highland conservation landscapes.

Click here to read more.