Twenty individuals attended Agricultural Conservation Technical Boot Camp Training – Level II August 31-September 4, 2020. Attendees included staff from conservation districts, PACD, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and their affiliates. Following recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the group was divided into two locations to allow for social distancing. The training was rescheduled from April due to COVID-19.

Twenty-four staff attended the Basic level training from September 9-11, 2020. The training was held at a pavilion at Coleman Park in Lebanon, PA. Attendees participated in a series of webinars in April. These three days were the field portion required to complete the training. Participants included staff from PACD, conservation districts, NRCS, and affiliates.

The training is sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the State Conservation Commission. PACD works with these partners to coordinate the training.

Registration is open for the Building for Tomorrow Fall Leadership series in October and November. The series starts on Wednesday, October 14, with a session on the PA Environmental Rights Amendment presented by Meg Murphy, DEP Counsel for Special Projects. This webinar is open to all conservation district staff, board members, and partners.

Click Here to Register for the 10/14 webinar. 

A three-part workshop on Adaptive Strategies & Contingency Planning for Conservation Districts is scheduled for Tuesdays October 20, October 27, and November 17. Deb Thompson of Strategy Solutions will facilitate a manager workshop on October 20, followed by a director workshop on October 27, to examine contingency planning parameters as they relate to technology, staff support, program operations, stakeholder advocacy, and funding. Both managers and directors will meet together on November 17 to discuss issues identified and assumptions challenged from the previous workshops.

Click Here to Register for Session 1: Adaptive Strategies & Scenario Planning for Managers – October 20 

Click Here to Register for Session 2: Adaptive Strategies & Scenario Planning for Board Members – October 27 

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.

Strategic Planning is an essential activity for conservation districts. Building for Tomorrow encourages districts to reevaluate regularly and update their plans, and supports districts by offering grants to offset costs associated with strategic planning activities. For 2020-2021, the State Conservation Commission has allocated funding for grants to reimburse up to a maximum of $1,500 in expenses related to developing a strategic plan. Priority will be given to conservation districts that did not receive a strategic planning grant in the past five years.

Please visit the Building for Tomorrow website for program eligibility requirements and strategic planning resources.

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 has rescheduled the Fluvial Geomorphology Training due to COVID-19 restrictions. The training will be held as a four-part webinar series on Monday, November 9, Tuesday, November 10, Thursday, November 12, and Friday, November 13, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

PACD has opened registration to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, PA Department of Environmental Protection, and any conservation districts that would like to attend and didn’t register before.

Instructor David Williams from the International Erosion Control Association (ICEA) will cover Fluvial Geomorphology and Natural Channel Design Indices on days one and two and stream restoration/rehabilitation and streambank protection on days three and four. The four-part course offers 14 Professional Development Hours, and a certificate will be distributed at the end of the four-day session.

Click here to register. 

Conservation district and DEP staff are invited to take part in two Chapter 105 webinars taking place this week. Details and contact information for the sessions are below.

102/105 – Basic Chapter 105 Overview
September 1, 2020 | 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
This session will provide a basic overview of Chapter 105 for all districts, regardless of delegation-level, and is appropriate for newer technicians.

102/105 – Administrative Program Manual for Processing Chapter 105 General Permits
September 3, 2020 | 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
This session will cover the Administrative Program Manual for Processing Chapter 105 General Permits and is most appropriate for technicians from delegated districts.

Please e-mail PACD’s Nick Yeagy at nyeagy@pacd.org for the link to participate and DEP’s Jay Braund at jbraund@pa.gov with any questions.

Perry County Conservation District Manager Sally Tengeres recently presented Representative Mark Keller (PA 86^th District) with the PACD Legislator Leadership Award in person. The award was announced at the PACD Executive Council Meeting in July.

Click here to read the press release.

 

PACD members and partners are invited to register for the fall PACD region meetings, which will take place virtually this September and October. Registration for all six web meetings is free and required. To register, please email Molly Burns at mburns@pacd.org. 

PACD North West Region Web Meeting
September 25, 2020 | 10 a.m. to Noon

PACD South Central Region Web Meeting
September 29, 2020 | 10 a.m. to Noon

PACD South East Region Web Meeting
October 1, 2020 | 10 a.m. to Noon

PACD North East Region Web Meeting
October 2, 2020 | 10 a.m. to Noon

PACD South West Region Web Meeting
October 5, 2020 | 10 a.m. to Noon

PACD North Central Region Web Meeting
October 22, 2020 | 10 a.m. to Noon

PACD has rescheduled the Fluvial Geomorphology Training due to COVID-19 restrictions. The training will be held as a four-part webinar series on Monday, November 9, Tuesday, November 10, Thursday, November 12, and Friday, November 13, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

PACD has opened registration to USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, PA Department of Environmental Protection, and any conservation districts that would like to attend and didn’t register before.

David Williams, from the International Erosion Control Association (ICEA), will be the instructor. Day one and two will cover Fluvial Geomorphology and Natural Channel Design Indices, and day three and four will cover stream restoration/rehabilitation and streambank protection. This four-part course offers 14 Professional Development Hours, and a certificate will be distributed at the end of the four-day session.

Click here to register. 

On August 7, 2020, forty attendees from the Perry County No-till Group and members of the local agricultural community gathered for coffee and doughnuts at the farm of Dennis Weller, an Elliottsburg dairyman. The Perry County Conservation District hosted the event to discuss and evaluate how different types of no-till and vertical-till equipment interact with the soil.

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 Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In light of the ongoing restrictions on event size, Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development has scheduled a Fall 2020 webinar series that includes programming for both district staff and boards.

Wednesday October 14, 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.

PA Environmental Rights Amendment & Responsibility for Natural Resources

Presented by Margaret Murphy, DEP Counsel for Special Projects

Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, also known as the PA Environmental Rights Amendment, states, “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.” This presentation will examine the background of the Environmental Rights Amendment and its significance to the work of Pennsylvania’s conservation districts and is open to all conservation district staff, board members, and partners.

Click Here to Register for 10/14 webinar. 

Tuesdays October 20, October 27, and November 17, 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.

Adaptive Strategies & Contingency Planning for Conservation Districts

Presented by Deb Thompson, Strategy Solutions

Ongoing disruptions have demonstrated that contingency planning is more important now than ever before. This workshop series will examine the lessons learned and potential opportunities for the future. We will identify issues, challenge assumptions, and develop an action plan to engage boards in scenario planning.

Session 1: Adaptive Strategies & Scenario Planning for Managers will define the parameters of contingency planning related to technology, staff support, program operations, stakeholder advocacy, and fundraising. Managers will discuss the challenges and hazards they have faced during the pandemic and beyond, as well as lessons learned and challenges yet to come. They will collectively develop an action list to increase awareness with their boards.

Session 2: Adaptive Strategies & Scenario Planning for Board Members will introduce the concept of scenario planning and will examine the role of the board in helping staff work through a contingency planning exercise based on the discussion from Session 1.

Session 3: Finalizing Scenario Plans: Identifying “Must Do” Strategies for Conservation Districts will allow managers and directors to work together in groups to identify top-priority strategies and share ideas and best practices for implementation.

Click Here to Register for the 10/20 Manager Session. 

Click Here to Register for the 10/27 Director Session

All registrants will receive an invitation to Session 3 on 11/17.

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.