Check out the great outreach by Cameron County Conservation District on their Facebook page. Administrative Assistant Jenn Dixon posted a video on how to build a terrarium (with help from her kids) and one where she reads a children’s book on recycling.
Other posts include make your own recycled bird feeder, a do it yourself rain gauge, and salt dough earth necklaces.
Click here to view the district’s Facebook page.
Bradford County Conservation District (BCCD) posted a series of videos on its Facebook page. They are calling it the Adventure Trail Series. BCCD Education Coordinator Dan Rhodes hosts the videos, which offer nature-based activities that can be done in your backyard. The goal is to get people outside and having fun.
Click here to view the videos.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly declared May 3-9, 2020, as “Conservation District Week.” Please take advantage of the resources PACD created for conservation districts to use to promote conservation districts this week. Click here to access the materials.
Pike County Conservation District’s Communications Coordinator/Open Records Officer Devan George hosted Facebook Live education events in April. She aimed to offer a replacement for activities that were scheduled around Earth Day that had to be canceled.
Her videos focus on activities kids can do along with her for hands-on learning. Activities include making an at-home watershed model, a groundwater model, and learning about erosion. During the live sessions, Devan was able to answer questions that come up in the comments and interact with her audience.
The videos are recorded and posted on the district’s Facebook page so they can be viewed at any time. Click here to check out all the videos and consider sharing them on your social media channels or creating your own! Follow the district’s social media to be notified when new videos are posted.
To continue providing environmental education and outreach, the Potter County Conservation District is working on a YouTube channel. Click here to view the channel.
The third and most recent video is “Trout Habitat and Parts of a Stream.” In the video, Watershed Specialist Jared Dickerson fly-fishes up Dingman Run in Coudersport, PA. Along the way, he shows parts of a stream, vital trout habitat, and proper fish handling. Click here to view the video.
The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) published an article by PACD President Mike Price in the spring 2020 issue of the Pennsylvania County News. The title of the article is “Conservation Districts Make a Difference in Our Communities.”
PACD is excited to announce that CCAP permitted us to link the article! Click here to read the entire piece. Thanks to CCAP for sharing the excellent work of conservation districts!
The Pennsylvania State Senate and the House of Representatives declared May 3-9, 2020, as “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:
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.
Adam Long of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC will present a webinar series on Employment Management & Law for Conservation Districts, scheduled for Wednesdays June 3, July 8, and August 5 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. An in-person follow-up session is scheduled for Thursday, September 3, at the 2020 Management Summit.
The program agenda for 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, 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, where 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.
PACD is partnering with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the State Conservation Commission (SCC) to deliver a three-day Introduction to Conservation Planning course. This free training is tentatively scheduled to take place on November 4-6, 2020, at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg (Hershey area) in Grantville, PA.
The event is for entry-level employees of all organizations in Pennsylvania delivering conservation planning technical assistance, including but not limited to NRCS, conservation districts, SCC, farmland preservation entities, non-profits, and private consultants. The training is free, and lunch will be provided.
To receive information on this training as it becomes available, including the online prerequisite, email Shannon Wehinger at swehinger@pacd.org.
More resources for teaching environmental education from home are now available. Huntingdon County Conservation District (HCCD) and the PA Envirothon have new things to share.
HCCD is creating some virtual field trips in the form of short videos and photo albums, including:
Click here to view the videos and consider sharing them on your social media! (You must be logged in to Facebook to view.)
Pennsylvania Envirothon is hosting an online challenge week (“Pennsylvania Envirothon Week”) from May 18-22, 2020, to give this year’s students a chance to test their knowledge and stay engaged in the program. This challenge will only be available for high school students who were already participating in this year’s Envirothon. Click here to learn more.