Ag Progress Days, Pennsylvania’s largest outdoor
agricultural exposition, was held August 13-15, 2019, at The Pennsylvania State
University’s Research Farms in Rock Springs. PACD and conservation districts
from Northumberland, Berks, Union, Cambria, Wyoming, Clinton, Venango, Adams, and
Bedford Counties met hundreds of landowners and farmers to discuss local
conservation during the three-day event.
Thank you so much to all
who volunteered for this great outreach opportunity!
Leah Hartman’s poster (Carbon County) is pictured.
PACD announces the five
state-level winners of the National Association of Conservation District’s 2019
“Life in the Soil: Dig Deeper” poster contest.
The winners in each category are:
K-1 Leah Hartman – Carbon County 2-3 Tvisha Jani – Delaware County 4-6 Karlee Dwyer – Delaware County 7-9 Marializ Jordan – Delaware County 10-12 Makenna Bankes – Carbon County
On
July 17, 2019, the State Conservation Commission approved the 2019-2020 budget
for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program, including a
recommendation from the Leadership Development Committee to increase the amount
of funding available for Strategic Planning Grants from $1000 to $1500 (per
district) for this fiscal year.
A document outlining the program’s purpose and requirements can be found here. The deadline for submitting a Letter of Intent is November 20, 2019.
For more information on the Strategic Planning Grants program, please contact: Matt Miller Leadership Development Coordinator mmiller@pacd.org 717-238-7223 x107
Financial
and other support for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program
is provided through a grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission.
Guidance for the Program is provided through the Pennsylvania Conservation
Partnership’s Leadership Development Committee.
Photos of Perry County Grazing Field Day provided by Perry County Conservation District.
The
Perry County Conservation District hosted a Grazing Field Day on August 2 at
the farm of Darryl Eberly and family in Loysville, PA. This field day was
focused on discussing helpful information with livestock grazers and how to
achieve greater soil health in pastures. Ninety individuals attended the event.
Marilyn Reyes harvests a raised bed garden at her urban high school. Photo provided by Lehigh County Conservation District.
Lehigh
County Conservation District Board of Directors is pleased to have recently
awarded a $2,000 college scholarship to Building 21 High School Senior Marilyn
Reyes. This award is made available annually to all Lehigh County graduating
seniors pursuing a degree in conservation or environmental sciences at a
college or university within the Commonwealth. Marilyn has been accepted into
Penn State Lehigh Valley and will be the first female student from Allentown
(in recent history) to enroll in the Agri-Business Program.
3rd place photo (l to r) – Megan Patton (coach), Ryan Swartz, Joey Kurincak, Christina Adams, Stephen Zacoi, Jacob Hair, and Kevin Willis (coach). Photo provided by PA Envirothon.
On August 2,
Pennsylvania’s Envirothon team from Carmichaels Area High School in Greene
County took third place out of 53 teams from the United States, Canada and
China competing in the 2019 NCF Envirothon at North Carolina State University!
Congratulations to
team members Jacob Hair, Ryan Swartz, Christina Adams, Stephen Zacoi, Joey
Kurincak and coach Kevin Willis!
This is the second year
in a row a team from Carmichaels Area High School won the Pennsylvania
Envirothon and then went on to the international competition.
The
team was awarded a scholarship of $5,000 ($1,000 each) for this third place
finish out of 53 teams. The team had the second highest Forestry score with 87
out of 100 points (high score was an 88), the second highest Soils score with
64.5 (high 69), the fourth highest Wildlife score with an 88 (high, 93.5), and the
fifth highest Aquatics score with a 91.5 (high 96.5). Their final presentation
score was 547.9 (high, 570.3).
Blair County Conservation District’s rain barrel workshops were featured on a local news channel. Watershed Specialist Diane Thomas and Stormwater Coordinator Chelsea Ergler of the Blair Conservation District explained how rain barrels work and promoted upcoming workshops. Click here to watch the video.
Franklin County Commissioner Robert Thomas (left) and PA Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell listen to Larry Brannaka (right), hydrologist with the PA field office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
PA
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell visited
community leaders at Lurgan Lions Club Park in Roxbury (Franklin County) to
discuss how Restore Pennsylvania could support stream restoration projects to
prevent erosion and protect communities across the commonwealth.
Staff
from the Franklin County Conservation District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service outlined their planned project to put in place in-stream stabilization
structures and native vegetation to end the erosion. The project would also
contribute to Franklin County’s Clean Water Action Plan to help Pennsylvania
reduce sediment and nutrients in its part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Front row: PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh and Larry Martick (retired manager). Middle row: Fulton County Conservation District Manager Seleen Shives, Schuylkill Conservation District Manager Jenna St. Clair, Northumberland County Conservation District Manager Judy Becker, Perry County Conservation District Manager Sally Tengeres, Mike Hubler (retired manager), Don McNutt (retired manager). Back row: Lancaster County Conservation District Manager Chris Thompson, Adams County Conservation District Manager Adam McClain, Chester County Conservation District Manager Chris Strohmaier, Cumberland County Conservation District Manager Carl Goshorn, Ernie Tarner (retired manager), Franklin County Conservation District Manager Dave Stoner, and Berks County Conservation District Manager Dean Druckenmiller.
Managers
from the PACD South Central Region met at Shady Maple in East Earl, PA, for a
breakfast meeting on July 25, 2019. PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh
and several retired conservation district managers joined them.