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. 

Friends of the Indiana County Conservation District has announced that it is now accepting applications for the agriculture small grant program funded through the Cambria/Indiana Farmer Assistance Fund at the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

The program provides financial support to small farmers in Indiana and Cambria Counties for business plan development or implementation that focuses on sustainable farming models, including providing match funding for sustainable farming projects and the development of conservation best management practices.

Two awards of up to $1,500 will be provided to agricultural producers or landowners engaging in agricultural activities. To be eligible, the applicant’s operation must be in either Indiana or Cambria Counties.

Funding for this grant program has been raised through the Annual Thank a Farmer Dash held every November on the Ghost Town Trail in Ebensburg. The 2024 Thank a Farmer Dash is scheduled for November 16.

For more information about the Agriculture Small Grant Program, visit https://www.iccdpa.org/agriculture-small-grant-program.

The keynote presentation at the 2024 Watershed Congress was “The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Local Conservation Districts, and You – Helping Achieve Pennsylvania’s Forest and Meadow Goals.” The keynote featured representatives from two Pennsylvania conservation districts discussing a PACD grant program that supports the creation of conventional riparian buffers, multi-functional riparian buffers, and lawn conversions. These programs were developed to help achieve Pennsylvania’s goal of planting 5,000 acres of upland forest and 5,000 acres of meadow by 2025.

The event was held on March 23, 2024, at the Montgomery County Community College, Pottstown, PA.

The speakers included Brian Vadino, Watershed Specialist for the Montgomery County Conservation District. Brian spoke about a project in the Perkiomen Creek Watershed that the districts completed through the PACD Riparian Buffer Sub-Grant for Conservation Districts program.

Kent Himelright, Watershed Coordinator for Berks County Conservation District, spoke about a riparian buffer project at Zartman Farm and a lawn-to-meadow conversion project at the Caernarvon Municipal Authority.

Click here to watch the presentation. 

Financial and other support for the Riparian Buffer Sub-Grant for Conservation Districts program 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.