Crawford County Conservation District Resource Conservation Technician Sydney Holler recently created a short video, “Are You Ready for Construction Season?” The video provides an overview of an often-missed component of new construction – erosion and sedimentation control.

Click here to view and share the three-minute video. 

Throughout June, Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD) will host a lunch-and-learn webinar series about streams and stormwater. Each week, ACCD staff will walk attendees through an essential aspect of stream health and stormwater systems. Sessions will build on each other to explain the relationship between human activity and water quality. These webinars will also review strategies to improve regional water quality and manage stormwater. Registration is free but required: https://bit.ly/2M7VoGx.

View previous webinars on soil, erosion control, tree planting, and manure management here: https://bit.ly/2TQxBz0.

PACD members and partner agency staff are invited to register for the PACD Executive Council Meeting, which will be held as a Zoom web conference on July 23, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to Noon. Registration is free and is required to participate. Click here for more information and to register.

Bucks County Conservation District’s summer intern, Baileigh Rosado, launched a web series on backyard vegetable gardening on the district’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bucksccd/.

Every Sunday, she posts a video documenting her journey building a raised garden bed. She shows viewers how to start their own garden, as well as some educational videos along the way. Check out her first video here on the benefits and potential drawbacks of gardening and how to know if it’s right for you!

As part of their 2019-20 Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Mini-grant Project, the Clarion Conservation District held two workshops. The first workshop was focused on invasive plant species in riparian areas. The second workshop addressed aquatic invasive species. A third workshop, which would have focused on invasive arthropods, had to be canceled due to the coronavirus crisis.

The purpose of this project was to educate the local community on how to identify aquatic and terrestrial invasive species, their impacts, and how to control or treat them.

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.

Managers and Directors – there’s still time to register for the Summer Employment Law for Conservation Districts session. Adam Long of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC will present a webinar series on Employment Law for Conservation Districts, scheduled for Wednesdays June 3, July 8, and August 5 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., with a follow-up session on September 23.

The first session on June 3 will feature topics that are crucial to effectively and lawfully managing the conservation district workforce during times of disruption: furloughs, layoffs, and work-from-home policies. This presentation will also cover key hiring considerations for employers as well as leave and other important workplace and employment policies. Topics for the July and August webinars will include harassment training and policy, managing employee absences, wage and employee classification, and best management practices for employee communication, confidentiality, conduct, and performance concerns.

All conservation district managers and directors are encouraged to participate in these sessions. Click here for more information and to register. 

Adam Long practices in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group at McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC. He represents employers in single-plaintiff and class-based employment litigation matters and provides advice and counseling to employers on a wide range of labor and employment law issues. Adam has worked with Building for Tomorrow to present on employment law and management topics for conservation districts for over ten years.

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 Building for Tomorrow 2020 Management Summit scheduled for September has moved to an online format for this year in light of COVID-19 restrictions. The Management Summit webinar series will be scheduled for Wednesdays in September, with sessions starting at 1:00 p.m. The agenda includes topics that address challenges during times of disruption, including managing effective remote teams, negotiation skills for dealing with difficult people, volunteer engagement in the age of social distancing, and more. Stay tuned for more information and a registration announcement in June.

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.

Beginning in April 2019, the McKean County Conservation District held a series of workshops for their 2019-20 Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Mini-grant project, “Promoting Healthy Watersheds.” The district held ten workshops, reaching 206 people. The workshops included a best management practices conservation tour, erosion control in our forests, a winter farmers meeting, a backyard conservation series, and an invasive plant workshop and field day.

The district achieved its goal of educating attendees on pollution prevention. The district demonstrated erosion and sedimentation control, rain gardens and infiltration areas, using native plants in riparian areas, and rain barrels.

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 US Environmental Protection Agency.

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay created a video featuring Jim Harbach, a Clinton County Conservation District Director, and former district staff person Lisa Blazure.

Jim Harbach operates Schrack Farms Resources with his brother-in-law Kevin Schrack in Clinton County, PA. Having practiced no-till farming for 30 years, and adopting the use of cover crops in recent decades, Harbach sees the benefits of these conservation practices to his harvest yields as well as the soil.

Click here to watch the 3 ½ minute video. 

In the interest of keeping our members safe, the PACD Executive Board voted to cancel the in-person PACD/SCC Joint Annual Conference scheduled for July 22-23, 2020, in Boalsburg. Instead, the Executive Council session will be held virtually on July 23, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. and committees will meet individually via conference call or video call prior to the Executive Council session. The State Conservation Commission will announce plans for their July meeting separately.

Need to update your district’s slate of voting delegates? Contact Molly with PACD at mburns@pacd.org.

More information on the web conference will be shared as it is available.