Photo from Pirates Game provided by and used with permission from the Allegheny County Conservation District.
The Allegheny County Conservation District was named one of the top 15 best mid-size workplaces in Western PA by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The district was ranked 13th in the medium category (25-49 employees).
The staff celebrated this recognition at a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park. (The Pirates lost to the Cubs 8-4.)
Click here to read more.
Susquehanna County Conservation District (SCCD) recently welcomed new “Eels in the Classroom” to their district tank! This is SCCD’s second year raising eels, and these juveniles are already much bigger than last year’s.
Eels in the Classroom (EIC), offered by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, gives educators juvenile American eels to raise and release back into the Susquehanna River. The program partners with natural resource agencies, schools, and Conowingo Dam operators to help restore eels to their native waters.
Public educators interested in joining the EIC program can fill out the form here.
(Clockwise from top left): Attendees hear from Sarah Colantonio, President, Work Wisdom; Kevin Stauffer, SEK; Jim Ladlee, State Program Leader, Emerging & Advanced Technology, Penn State Extension; Jill Whitcomb, Deputy Secretary, PA Department of Environmental Protection; and Cindi Johnson & Stacey Piper, Piper Strategies.
The 2025 Management Summit was held September 16–18 at the Wyndham Garden Conference Center in State College. Over 60 district managers, management staff, and partner staff attended. In addition to keynotes on managing uncertainty, understanding artificial intelligence, and communicating for influence, attendees participated in discussions on change management models, learned about audits and principles of accounting, and were updated on current legislative issues.
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.
The most common strategic planning questions at districts revolve around budgeting. This webinar will present a toolkit with simple options for districts to evaluate when considering how to best invest their time and money to address priority challenges. “Right-Sizing” Your Strategic Planning Process will be presented by Ryan Szuch, Founder & President of York-based Grow Conservation LLC, on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, from Noon to 12:45 p.m.
Click here to register.
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.
Mudsill installed on Mountain Creek. Photo provided by Cumberland County Conservation District.
Cumberland County Conservation District funded a stream restoration project along the Mountain Creek of Mount Holly Springs. This project successfully restored 640 feet of stream bank with the use of saw-tooth modified mudsill, log-framed cross vanes with rock throats, saw-tooth stone deflectors, and log-framed stone deflectors.
By installing these practices, the district and partners:
Project partners included the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Habitat Management Division, Western PA Conservancy, the Mountain Creek Trout Club and Conservation Society, and Gleim Excavating.
The project was funded with $50,337 from the Unconventional Gas Well Fund (Marcellus Shale).
Clockwise: filling jam jars, using a loupe to identify autumn olive, feeding a giraffe, and a basket of berries. Photos provided by Lehigh County Conservation District.
On Saturday, September 6, 2025, the Lehigh County Conservation District partnered with the Lehigh Valley Zoo to raise awareness about the damage invasive plants can do to our landscape and ecosystem.
Participants in this unique new event met on The Trexler Game Preserve with a two-fold mission. First, learn all about invasive Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), then collect berries and foliage. After discussing identification, look-alikes, and native berry producers, the group paraded back to the Zoo grounds with harvest in tow to make a tasty jam and provide enrichment to resident megafauna!
Although E. umbellata is not preferred browse for PA native whitetail and elk, its thorny branches are similar enough to the Masai giraffe’s beloved Acacia foliage to be thoroughly enjoyed! With each jar of jam, participants brought home the knowledge to prevent thousands of new autumn olive seedlings from taking root in our public lands each year.
Students work together to build a filter for the Filter Challenge. Photo submitted by Columbia County Conservation District.
On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, the Columbia County Conservation District held its 8th annual Water Education Day at Briar Creek Lake Park in Berwick. About 190 eighth-grade students from two different school districts in Columbia County attended the event. The students rotated through six stations where they learned about various aspects of our water sources, water quality, and aquatic ecosystems. The six stations—Water Quality, Streams, Groundwater, Music and Discovery, Art and Poetry, and Fish Ecology—are all led by volunteers.
Click here to read the entire article and to see more photos.
PACD Executive Director Amy Brown spoke at the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Citizens Advisory Council on September 9, 2025.
Amy spoke about PACD programs, training, and sub-grants for conservation districts and emphasized the importance of conservation district work. She also explained the vital role of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Technical Assistance program, whose funding may be in jeopardy at the federal level.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced that it has awarded $196,832 in grant funding through its R3 Education Grant Program.
Through this program, the PFBC will support 16 education projects in 10 counties to promote new and renewed interest in fishing and boating in Pennsylvania through the recruitment of new participants, retention of existing participants, and reactivation of former participants – collectively known as “R3.”
The Mercer County Conservation District received a grant for a “Fishing Skills Workshop Series.”
The next round of grants is expected to open for applications on September 15, 2025.
Click here to read the entire press release.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded $5,222,250 for the environmental restoration of seven abandoned mine lands (AML) projects as part of the Abandoned Mine Lands and Acid Mine Drainage Grant Program.
The Elk County Conservation District was awarded $437,761 for the continued operation and maintenance of two lime silos located in Winslow Hill, Saint Mary’s City.
Click here to read the press release.