Do you know a staff person, director, or associate director who has gone above and beyond the call of duty? A legislator who champions conservation legislation? Or a Pennsylvania resident or Pennsylvania-based organization you would like to recognize for their contributions in support of environmental recreation? If so, nominate them for a PACD award!

The awards are:

• Ann Rudd Saxman Conservation District Director or Associate Director Excellence Award
• Conservation District Employee Excellence Award
• Legislator Leadership Award
• Maurice K. Goddard Award for Excellence in Environmental Recreation

The deadline for nominations is April 30, 2021. Click here for more information and the nomination forms. Nominations should be emailed to Diane Young at dyoung@pacd.org.

Reminder: PACD is accepting sub-grant applications to implement multi-functional riparian buffers. The implementation of these grants will help the commonwealth plant 95,000 acres of riparian buffers by 2025.

To date, PACD has awarded $307,769 in sub-grants to 19 conservation district projects covering 67.69 acres of multi-functional riparian buffers.

• 2 grants from Allegheny County Conservation District
• 1 from Armstrong Conservation District
• 1 from Berks County Conservation District
• 2 from Butler County Conservation District
• 1 from Chester County Conservation District
• 1 from Columbia County Conservation District
• 1 from Dauphin County Conservation District
• 1 from Huntingdon County Conservation District
• 4 from Indiana County Conservation District
• 1 from Lancaster County Conservation District
• 1 from Monroe County Conservation District
• 2 from Montgomery County Conservation District
• 1 from Westmoreland Conservation District

This grant is 100% paid. There is no match required.

The guidelines and application for the statewide sub-grant program for conservation districts are available here. Direct questions to Holly Miller at hmiller@pacd.org.

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.

Recognized by both the Pennsylvania State House and Senate, April 18-24, 2021, will be “Conservation District Week.” During this week, district offices will hold conference calls and virtual meetings with legislators.

Conservation district resources are available here.

Resources include:

• Press Release
• Fact Sheet (Word)
• Template Letter to Legislators (Word)
• Follow-up Thank You Letter (Word)
• Template Proclamation (Word)
• Social Media Images 

Please take advantage of these resources PACD created for conservation districts to use.

Pennsylvania’s conservation districts thank Governor Tom Wolf and members of the PA House and Senate for supporting the districts through the state budget.

Mark your calendars for May 19-20, 2021, for the Section 319 Virtual Watershed Planning and Implementation Meeting. The event is open to conservation district, DEP, and EPA staff, as well as incorporated watershed associations, counties, municipalities, councils of governments, 501(c)(3) non-profits, educational institutions, and municipal authorities. Registration will open later this spring.

February 2021 was a month of firsts for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program. The first Virtual Staff Conference was held February 8-12, wrapping up with the first annual Conservation District Video Awards, and the first Board Leadership webinar series was held February 15-24. These events reached a combined total of over 200 conservation district staff members, managers, and directors.

Videos and materials for Staff Conference and Board Leadership sessions, as well as links to all Video Awards finalists, can be found at the Building for Tomorrow website https://www.paleadership.org.

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 USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service offered free technical training to Pennsylvania’s conservation districts on native plants and pollinators. The webinar was held February 18, 2021. A recording of the webinar is available here. 

PACD members and partners are invited to register for the spring PACD region meetings, which will take place virtually this March and April. Registration for all six web meetings is free and required. To register, please click on the link for your region meeting below:

PACD North Central Region Video Conference
March 18, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD South Central Region Video Conference (New Date!)
March 24, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD South East Region Video Conference
March 25, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD South West Region Video Conference
March 30, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD North West Region Video Conference
April 8, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD North East Region Video Conference
April 16, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

 

 

The 2021 Virtual Conservation District and PA Agency Ag Meeting will be held via Zoom March 16-17, 2021. Staff from PA state agencies, USDA-NRCS, and conservation district agricultural technicians, watershed specialists, and management are invited to attend. Registration is free and required.

Formerly known as the All Bay Meeting, this annual meeting has been expanded to include sessions that are relevant to conservation districts across the state, as well as more focused sessions for conservation districts within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The draft agenda includes topics such as agency updates, getting the most out of PracticeKeeper, a review of the Integrated Water Quality Report and mapping tools, local rapid stream delisting strategies, and other timely and relevant sessions.

Click here for more information and to register. 

This location of this position is negotiable. The employer of record is the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts and day to day technical guidance provided by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The incumbent has primary responsibility for providing assistance and coordination support for the National Conservation Planning Partnership conservation planning efforts. The position is under the technical supervision of the NRCS Natural Resources Specialist located in Benton, PA.

Click here to read the job description. 

A cover letter and resume should be emailed to personnel@pacd.org by March 2, 2021.

Building for Tomorrow wrapped up the 2021 Virtual Staff Conference with the first annual Conservation District Video Awards on Friday, February 12. Finalists from three categories were recognized, and awards were presented to the highest-scoring video submissions in each category:

• PSA/Homeowner Category Winner – “How Big is an Acre?” (Crawford County Conservation District)
• K-12 Educational Category Winner – “Virtual Tour of Tannersville Bog” (Monroe County Conservation District)
• General Audience Category Winner – “2020 Conservation Farmer of the Year: The Frye Family” (Westmoreland Conservation District)

A special award for the highest-scoring video produced with a $0 budget was also presented to “What in the World is a Wetland?” (Crawford County Conservation District)

Links for all Video Awards finalist submissions and a recording of the awards presentation can be found at https://www.paleadership.org/conservation-district-video-award-winners/.

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.