In February, Montgomery County Conservation District (MCCD) presented a nonpoint source pollution prevention and watershed awareness program to Penn State Master Watershed Stewards from Bucks and Montgomery Counties. In March, the district co-led a site tour with native live stake harvesting and installation, as well as with Penn State Master Watershed Stewards. The site tour was co-led with the Perkiomen Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter.

The project was funded by PACD’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Mini-grant Program.

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.

 

Submitted by Matthew J. Long, District Manager, Lycoming County Conservation District

Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union County Conservation Districts teamed up to host a workshop for consultants on March 20, 2025. The Susquehanna Valley Consultants Workshop was attended by 69 consultants and contractors to learn about changes to the PAG-02 General NPDES permit. The event was hosted at the Pine Barn Inn in Danville, PA, and featured 12 presenters from the districts and two from the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Northcentral Regional Office. Various topics on the changes to the PAG-02 were covered, and the presenters fielded many questions.

The event was a great success, and the consultants and contractors in the region were brought up to speed on many of the larger changes in the General NPDES permit. It’s always great to get a room full of people district staff work with consistently and answer questions in real-time. Many common issues can be explained, and the hope is to increase permit review efficiency. The districts presenting the program look forward to hosting more events like this.

Submitted by Katie Hollen, Watershed Specialist, Lebanon County Conservation District

On March 19, 2025, sixty students attended the Lebanon County Envirothon Soils Training. Middle and high school students from Annville-Cleona, Lebanon, Northern Lebanon, and Palmyra school districts, as well as homeschool and private school institutions, participated.

The Lebanon County Conservation District hosted the hands-on training at the Lebanon Expo Center. It was led by Soil Scientist John Chibirka from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS Natural Resource Specialist Alec Smith and Lebanon County Conservation District Ag Preservation Specialist Craig Zemitis assisted.

John began the morning with a presentation on soil forming factors, soil texture, soil horizons, and more. Students learned about the different soils throughout the state and why it is important to understand soil properties when making land use decisions.

After the presentation, students used the soil textural triangle to classify different soil samples. John assisted the students as they practiced making ribbons with soil and estimating the amounts of sand, silt, and clay in each sample. He also showed them how to use Munsell Soil Color Books to determine the color of each soil sample. Alec and Craig introduced students to topographic maps and soil surveys.

New for this year, PACD is partnering with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for the annual Conservation District Trash Champion Contest. To participate in the contest, PA’s conservation districts are invited to pick up trash between April 1 and May 31, 2025.

Register for your event now and report your results upon completing your trash pick-up efforts at Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. Receive free bags, gloves, and safety vests as supplies last. Free or reduced disposal is available at participating landfills during the month of April.

The winning district will receive $500 from Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.

Questions? Contact Michelle Dunn at mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.

As part of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Outreach Program Office, the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts and CREP program partners are offering a two-day CREP Partner Training to all partner staff involved in the program statewide. The training will be held April 23 and 24, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to noon on both days.

Topics will include basic CREP info, how partners work together, compliance and maintenance, invasive species management, integrating CREP into working farms, and several CREP project spotlights.

Click here to register for the training. Registration is free and required.

Financial and other support for the CREP Partner Training is provided through a Growing Greener Watershed Protection grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and with additional support from USDA-NRCS.

Adam Long of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC presented a webinar on March 18, 2025, to address questions that were submitted during and after the February Employment Law for Conservation Districts Seminar series. Links to the recording of this session and the seminar reference booklet are posted at Building for Tomorrow.

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

Columbia County Conservation District helped convert 0.5 acres of maintained lawn in Catawissa, PA, into a native meadow with a mini-grant provided by PACD’s Lawn Conversion Program for Conservation Districts. The project used $2,355 in grant funding.

The Lawn Conversion Program for Conservation Districts is partially financed by a grant from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship fund, under the administration of 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.

 

Submitted by Elysia Axworthy, Communications Coordinator, Susquehanna County Conservation District

On Friday, February 28, 2025, the Susquehanna County Conservation District (SCCD) awarded $5,000 in grant funding to the Friends of Salt Springs Park (FSSP) through its Growing a Greener Community Grant program. The funds will support FSSP’s 2025 Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) Project to protect the park’s hemlock trees from the invasive HWA pest.

The project will utilize Sasajiscymnus tsugae (ST beetles) as a biological control method to help stabilize or reduce the HWA population in and around Salt Springs Park’s old-growth forest. These beetles feed exclusively on HWA, moving from tree to tree as they consume the pest. This environmentally-friendly approach offers a sustainable solution to combat HWA infestations.

A public ST beetle release event will be scheduled at Salt Springs Park, providing an opportunity for community members to witness conservation efforts firsthand. FSSP will announce details in the coming weeks.

For more information, please contact the Susquehanna County Conservation District or Friends of Salt Springs Park. 

 

 

McKean County Conservation District’s invasive species program was highlighted in the March 18, 2025, issue of “The NACD eResource.”

The article begins, “The fight against invasive species is a growing challenge for conservation districts nationwide. In McKean County, Pennsylvania, the McKean County Conservation District has taken a proactive stance, implementing an Invasive Species Program in 2018 in partnership with the Penn State Extension and the U.S. Forest Service. This collaboration led to the establishment of the Allegheny Plateau Invasive Plant Management Area (APIPMA), covering five counties in northwestern Pennsylvania. The initiative focuses on landscape-level management strategies to prevent and control non-native invasive plants, ensuring the health and sustainability of local ecosystems.”

Click here to read the entire article.