Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts

We support Pennsylvania’s Conservation Districts who work for clean water and healthy soil every day.

Intro to Conservation Planning Held in Grantville

NRCS State Resource Conservationist Dan Ludwig kicks off the training on October 19, 2021.

Seventeen students (including eight conservation district staff) completed the Intro to Conservation Planning Course in Grantville, PA, from October 19-21, 2021. The training is an introductory course for employees interested in writing conservation plans and becoming a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Certified Conservation Planner. The event included classroom and field experience.

Participants attended the three-day training free of charge thanks to the generous sponsorship of NRCS and the State Conservation Commission. In addition, PACD provided administrative support for the course.

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Secretary Dunn Attends Adams County Conservation District Buffer Planting

(Left to right) Adams County Conservation District Manager Adam McClain, Secretary Dunn, and PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh.

On October 21, 2021, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn traveled to Adams County. A ceremonial tree was planted at Knouse Foods by the Secretary and a representative from Knouse.

PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh also attended the event and presented the 2021 Maurice K. Goddard Award for Excellence in Environmental Recreation to Secretary Dunn.

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Franklin County Conservation District Receives NFWF Grant

Update to “Bradford and Schuylkill Conservation Districts Receive NFWF Grants” article in the October 18, 2021 newsletter.

Franklin County Conservation District also received a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Grant in addition to Bradford and Schuylkill Conservation Districts as reported in the last issue of Front Page. They are mistakenly listed under the Virginia projects.

The Franklin County Conservation District will use the $50,000 grant to develop a Watershed Action Plan for the county to determine sources of nutrients and sediment in seven sub-watersheds. The project will identify best management practices for implementation to assist with the pollution reduction targets and water quality improvement goals identified in Franklin’s Countywide Action Plan.

Click here to read about all the projects. 

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Mark Your Calendar for Conservation District Staff Conference

Mark your calendars for the 2022 Conservation District Staff Conference, scheduled for February 16-17 at the Wyndham Garden State College in Boalsburg. The conference will be a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting featuring interactive sessions on conflict management, resilience, and burnout prevention, and the 2nd Annual Conservation District Video Awards. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

The Fall Leadership Webinar series begins on November 3, 2021, with Succession Planning Management Part 1, presented by Dennis Gilbert. The series continues on November 10 with Environmental Justice & Conservation Leadership, presented by Justin Dula, Regional Coordinator for the DEP Office of Environmental Justice. The series wraps up with succession Planning Management Part 2 on November 17. All district directors, associate directors, and managers are encouraged to participate. Click here for more information and 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.

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Juniata County Conservation District Holds Field Day

NRCS District Conservationist Melissa Erdman presents soil health buckets during a workshop. Photo provided by Juniata County Conservation District.

During the Buckets of Benefits Field Day held on August 18, 2021, at Greenbar Farms, LLC, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service District Conservationist Melissa Erdman instructed local farmers in using the contents of two soil health buckets presented by Juniata County Conservation District.

Soil health buckets contain nutrient test and soil health analysis kits, soil thermometers, penetrometers, soil probes, materials to conduct infiltration tests, and more. Buckets are available for agricultural testing with technical support at no cost to the farmer.

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.

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Juniata County Conservation District Installs Buffer Signage

October is Riparian Buffer month! To celebrate, Juniata County Conservation District installed a riparian buffer educational sign at the Christian Retreat Center in East Waterford to explain the benefits of planting trees for water quality protection.

The signage was created from templates produced by PACD through a PA Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Education Grant. The templates are available here

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Five Conservation Districts and PACD Receive 319 Grants

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded over $4.1 million to 13 projects statewide that will help communities restore impaired local watersheds.

The Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Grants program supports projects that carry out best management practices (BMPs) specified in Watershed Implementation Plans for 36 watersheds around the state, with special consideration for projects in Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The following conservation district projects received Section 319 Grants:

  • Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts: $362,565 to support nonpoint source pollution education by county conservation district offices.
  • Clearfield County Conservation District: $722,661 for design, permitting, and construction of a passive treatment system to remediate Korb 4 AMD discharge in Little Anderson Creek in Bloom Township.
  • Lancaster County Conservation District: $121,000 to identify and implement projects to install streambank buffers, streambank fencing, and livestock crossings on various tributaries in Mill Creek Watershed.
  • Schuylkill Conservation District: $240,000 to design a streambank restoration project for the Swatara Creek floodplain in Ravine, Tremont Township.
  • York County Conservation District: $508,581 to design, permit and construct a stream restoration project, including streambed and bank stabilization, on Willis Run, a tributary to Codorus Creek, and in the west branch of Codorus Creek, in the City of York.
  • York County Conservation District: $280,898 for Codorus Creek Watershed stream restorations.

Click here to read the entire press release. 

Grant funding is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and authorized through Section 319(h) of the federal Water Pollution Control Act.

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Erosion Control in Our Forests Workshop Held in Potter County

Group photo in the upper right: (left to right): Chuck Coup, SFI Program Manager; Jason Childs, PCCD Manager; Andrew Mickey, PCCD Dirt, Gravel and Low Volume Road Specialist; Sherry Dunmire, McKean County Conservation District Resource Conservationist; Maddie Stanisch, McKean County Conservation District Resource Conservationist (front row); Ryan Grimm, Elk County Conservation District (ECCD) Resource Conservationist (back row); Victoria Challingsworth, ECCD Resource Conservationist; Micaela Lefever, ECCD Watershed Technician; Scott Moore, Tioga Co Resource Conservationist; Glenn Dunn, PCCD Resource Conservationist; Eric Monger, DCNR Bureau of Forestry Service Forester.

On Friday, October 8, 2021, the Potter County Conservation District (PCCD) hosted “Erosion Control in Our Forests”–a Sustainable Forestry Initiative workshop for foresters, loggers, logging contractors, and private forest landowners.

Held at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum and on-field sites within the Susquehannock Forest, the event provided Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Society of American Foresters (SAF) credits. The workshop was held with the support and expertise of several speakers and organizations, including the PA Department of Agriculture, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, and Elk, McKean, Cameron, and Tioga County Conservation Districts.

In total, 51 attendees participated. Topics covered included erosion prevention/102/105 permitting, planning harvests, stream crossings, and post-timbering best management practices.

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.

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Carbon County Creates Unique Educational Activity

Carbon County Educator Franklin Klock examines “poop” to the delight of second graders. Photo provided by Carbon County Conservation District.

Carbon County Environmental Education Center has developed a fun demonstration for elementary students on the relationships between plants, animals, and soil. The “Poop Plop” is played by mixing brightly colored beads into a plastic bag full of chocolate pudding. The pudding is then piped across a gameboard as “poop” from a bear or fox, depositing the beads as “seeds” onto places where they might–or might not–germinate, such as in good soil, near a rotting log, or along a road.

Educators then examine the poop by hand to dig out the seeds. Seed colors correspond to student teams, with teams earning points depending on where the seeds have landed. The activity aligns with academic standards for ecology and the environment.

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Bradford and Schuylkill Conservation Districts Receive NFWF Grants

On October 12, 2021, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership announced more than $10 million in grants for projects that will protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding watershed.

Fourteen projects that will benefit Pennsylvania received $3.88 million. The conservation district funded projects are:

  1. Bradford County Conservation District – Accelerated Watershed Implementation Plan Development – II. Grant amount: $49,995. The project aims to accelerate the planning of Bradford County’s Watershed Implementation Plan in the areas of stream rehabilitation, agricultural management, stream-crossing replacement, and forestry. The project will address water quality impacts in the county by creating designs for stream rehabilitation and crossings, comprehensive nutrient management, riparian buffer installation, and reforestation.
  2. Schuylkill Conservation District – Little Mahanoy Creek Headwaters Restoration Plan Development. Grant Amount: $50,000. Develop a detailed watershed restoration plan for the headwaters of Little Mahanoy Creek Watershed. The project will provide a blueprint for managing stormwater in the watershed, restoring habitat in the headwaters, and improving water quality to protect the unimpaired downstream sections where trout reproduce naturally.

Click here to read about all the projects. 

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