The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently announced projects to clean up waters in the state’s northwest and southeast regions through DEP’s Growing Greener Plus program.

Statewide, more than $18 million was awarded to fund over 60 projects to clean up waters. Grantees have up to three years from the award date to implement their projects.

Nineteen of the 65 projects funded in the 2021 Growing Greener Grant round were awarded to conservation districts. This is 29.2% of the total number of projects funded. Of the $18,222,967 in Growing Greener funds awarded, $4,586,041 went to conservation districts. This is 25.2% of the total amount awarded.

Projects announced so far include:

• Armstrong Conservation District, Mahoning-Redbank Creek Ag BMP Grant, $294,061
• Columbia County Conservation District, Town of Bloomsburg Kinney Run Watershed Project, $245,000
• Erie County Conservation District, PA VinES Program (Vested in Environmental Sustainability) in the Lake Erie Watershed, $249,500
• Jefferson County Conservation District, Rattlesnake Creek Stream Improvement Project, $276,150
• McKean County Conservation District, Upper Allegheny Ag. BMP Project, $382,492
• Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD)
  • PACD Agriculture Plan Reimbursement Program, to help farmers statewide develop agricultural plans for their operations, $500,000
  • PACD Engineering Technical Assistance Program, to provide statewide engineering and soils technical assistance to entities developing or implementing a watershed assessment, watershed restoration plan, or watershed protection plan. Program staff are based out of four regional offices and cover all river basins throughout the state, $2,047,769

Conservation district projects funded through Growing Greener will continue to be highlighted as they are announced.

There’s still time to register to attend the 2022 Hybrid Staff Conference on February 16-17, 2022. Day 1 sessions take a close look at how we handle external and internal stress and highlight the talent and hard work that went into conservation district video production from across the state in 2021. Day 2 sessions focus on outreach, working with landowners, and grant management. Individual staff can register to attend in person, and managers can register their districts for virtual access – the deadline for registration is February 7.

Two Days of Learning and Networking, Two Ways to Participate: visit Building for Tomorrow 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.

District directors, associate directors, and managers are invited to participate in this year’s Director Workshop Series: Staff Retention, the Employee Life Cycle, and Post-Covid Policies, presented by Mary Kay Williams of State College-based MindShift Consulting and Matt Miller with PACD. The workshops will give an overview of the current district staffing situation, background, and concepts that underlie successful retention strategies for conservation districts. These sessions are intended to allow district leaders from across the state to share and discuss their own problems and solutions. Workshops are scheduled for February 24 at Westmoreland Conservation District, March 3 at Clinton County Conservation District, and March 9 in Harrisburg (and streaming online via Zoom). They are free of charge and include lunch for in-person attendees. Visit Building for Tomorrow 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.

Representatives from PACD testified before the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on January 24, 2022. The testimony favored House Bill 1901, which would help ensure clean water for all Pennsylvanians.

PACD endorses HB 1901 because it would start several programs. First, this would put much-needed Best Management Practices (BMPs) on the ground. These BMPs would reduce the amount of pollution getting into Pennsylvania’s ground and surface water.

Brenda Shambaugh, Executive Director of the PA Association of Conservation Districts, testified in favor of the legislation. PACD represents the state’s 66 conservation districts. Also, John Dryzal, Cambria County Conservation District Manager, and Christopher Thompson, Lancaster County Conservation District Managing Director, spoke in favor of HB 1901.

“Clean water is vital to all Pennsylvanians. HB 1901 provides a way to use federal dollars in various programs. We hope that this bill passes. In addition, we ask legislators to consider future funding to continue controlling pollution,” said Shambaugh.

HB 1901 would provide additional resources to conservation districts. With this support, conservation districts will better address clean water issues. This includes helping farmers to reduce pollution. 

The entirety of the testimony is available here: https://tinyurl.com/HB1901. 

 

On February 1, 2022, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. PACD will host a virtual National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Grants Writing Workshop. While there will be some focus on the Bay, the webinar will apply to all counties in PA.

This training aims to improve the ability of conservation districts to take advantage of NFWF funding opportunities. Staff, directors, and associate directors from Pennsylvania’s conservation districts are encouraged to attend.

Registration is free, but advanced registration is required. Click here for the flyer and here to register. 

Please get in touch with Holly Miller at hmiller@pacd.org with questions.

Public perception of conservation work is generally positive, but sometimes navigating the gap between perceptions and reality can be frustrating. Staff Conference Day 2 on February 17 begins with a general session, presented by Eric Eckl of Water Words that Work, on The World Outside: What They Say About Why Your Work Matters. The presentation will explore what polls, surveys, focus groups, and other research tools used by social scientists and market researchers teach us — and how they mislead us — about the public’s attitudes toward conservation work.

Eric will focus specifically on agricultural outreach in an extended breakout workshop on Closing the Deal With Rural Landowners. This session will cover successful strategies and tactics for getting rural landowners to say yes to conservation practices. In addition, it will cover landowner decision-making, negotiations, the roles of persistence and cultivating your reputation, and how to provide good customer service while managing an ever-expanding workload.

Other Day 2 breakout sessions will focus on technology. Cybersecurity and internet safety best practices for work and home are especially important now that the boundaries between workplace and home have become more fluid. Grant Management Tools will build on the foundation of last year’s QuickBooks webinars with tips and tricks to ensure accuracy in tracking and reporting. Lastly, a facilitated panel/roundtable discussion on Outreach and the New Normal will provide an opportunity for staff to share and compare successful outreach strategies and tactics and to discuss new tools, technology, and best practices to help get the most out of virtual events.

Two days of learning and networking, two ways to participate – Visit Building for Tomorrow for more information and registration. The deadline for 2022 Hybrid Staff Conference registration is February 7.

Eric Eckl, Owner/Principal of Water Words That Work, has over 20 years of environmental outreach and communications expertise. Drawing from his experience in both the private and public sectors, Eric is a sought-after speaker, has appeared on CNN, and has been quoted in the New York Times.

Kevin Stouffer, CPA, has over 17 years of experience working with local governments. Kevin is an instructor for SEK’s in-house training programs on governmental accounting, serves as a member of the firm’s Accounting & Auditing Committee, and presents on grant guidance, fraud prevention, internal controls, and audits.

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.

PACD created a public service announcement (PSA) to encourage citizens to reduce the use of salt and de-icers to prevent pollution. Please share!

Materials include:

• 74-second Video 
• 60-second Script 
• 30-second Script 
• 15-second Script

Click here to view the webpage of materials. Please share the PSA scripts with your local radio stations. In addition, conservation districts and partners are encouraged to share the video on their social media channels.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made the conservation district booth possible at the 2022 PA Farm Show!

Thank you to the following conservation districts for volunteering:

Bedford
Berks
Centre
Clinton
Cumberland
Indiana
Lancaster
Lebanon
Schuylkill

The 2022 Hybrid Staff Conference will take place February 16-17, 2022.

Dealing with difficult people and situations involves developing and applying skills not usually taught in traditional conservation training. The Staff Conference Day 1 workshop, presented by Rita Coleman Graham, will focus on self-awareness and situational awareness, active listening and assertive messaging skills, and techniques for de-escalating stressful interactions, with interactive exercises designed to empower conservation district staff to help improve their encounters with difficult people.

Pivoting from external encounters to internal reactions in stressful situations, the Day 1 Keynote Session will focus on resilience, stress, and humor to help staff find what presenter Jonathan Cleck describes as “calm amidst the storm.” This presentation will share lessons learned from a career spent in intensely stressful situations. In addition, it will help staff understand the complexities of their emotional and mental responses to adversity, stress, and chaos.

Day 1 wraps up with the 2nd Annual Conservation District Video Awards presentation, where finalist entries from 2021 will be screened. The coveted CONDIVA trophy will be awarded to the top-scoring submissions. All district personnel are invited to tune in via Zoom at 3:00 p.m. on February 16, 2022, when we present the awards and recognize staff with exceptional training completion in Clean Water Academy.

Two days of learning and networking, two ways to participate – Visit Building for Tomorrow for more information and to register. The deadline for 2022 Hybrid Staff Conference registration is February 7.

Rita Coleman Graham, Owner of Coleman-Graham, brings decades of experience in the environmental field to provide facilitation and training for individuals, teams, and organizations on communication, conflict resolution, and leadership development to empower them to succeed.

Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Cleck is a career Navy SEAL officer, former Federal Air Marshal, FBI Task Force Officer, and recognized speaker on leadership, focusing on mental fortitude, team mindset, and building trust. Combining his diverse experiences in law enforcement and military special operations with his doctoral research in human performance, Jonathan’s message uses humor and hard-learned lessons to help those who work through chaotic and unpredictable circumstances to maximize their ability to perform in today’s challenging and unforgiving work environments.

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.

In a cooperative effort, the Beaver County Conservation District and the Zelienople Airport Authority combined forces to improve streams affected by the airport runway project. Although they were rerouted for the runway project, the future is bright for these streams!

Hundreds of native trees and shrubs were planted along streams affected by the runway project in the fall of 2021. This was made possible by a $26,000 grant received by the conservation district through the PACD Multifunctional Riparian Buffer Sub-grant Program.

Click here to read the entire article. 

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 Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.