Chester: Kennett Friends Home Gets Rain Garden Makeover

 

Clearfield: Conservation Celebration Provides Educational Opportunities for Children

PENNVEST Workshop

Be sure to save the date for the Jan. 23 and 24 Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD)/State Conversation Commission (SCC) Winter Meeting in State College. As a part of the day-and-a-half conference, Michael Kumer, Principal of Boards Made to Order (BoardsMTO), will be conducting a two-hour workshop on Jan. 23 to discuss board member recruitment and retention. It is Mr. Kumer's goal to provide each district with an action plan to address board engagement. By the conclusion of the workshop, attendees will be able to:

• Embed their boards with the characteristics of peak-performing boards.
• Create, sustain and improve a passionately committed, highly effective and thoroughly engaged board.
• Find and recruit eager, energetic and enthusiastic prospective board members.
• Develop an effective continuing education program for board members.

For more information about Mr. Kumer and BoardsMTO, visit www.boardsmto.com. 

The Northampton County Conservation District along with several partners have organized the  "Rising Waters: What a Wetter PA Means for Local Communities" conference. The event will take place Oct. 9 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. For more information including session topics and registration, click here.  

A before (left) and after photo of an EWP project in Wyoming County.

Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee devastated parts of Wyoming, Bradford, Luzerne, Columbia, Montgomery and Lycoming Counties.  In all, more than 24 eastern and central Pennsylvania counties were covered by the official disaster declaration.  The narrow valleys, steep land slopes, gravelly soils and many waterways make the northeastern counties especially vulnerable to severe damages from flooding and eroding stream banks.  

 

To date, extensive work has been done to repair streambanks and remove debris.  Over 155 sites were declared eligible for Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) assistance.  Totaling over $6 million in construction costs, $4.5 million has come from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), while the remaining 25 percent has come from DEP, Growing Greener or other local sources.  In total, DEP has provided $1.3 million.

 

Work has already been completed in Bradford, Clinton, Columbia and Wyoming Counties. At this time, construction projects are actively being solicited by local municipal sponsors and conservation districts.   Much of the work is expected to be completed within the next two months.

 

NRCS is providing the lead technical assistance for eligibility determinations, rankings, project planning and project engineering.  Conservation districts, oftentimes acting as the local sponsors are actively soliciting and handling construction contract awards, certifying easements are secured, and agreeing to operation and maintenance requirements. The Conservation Partnership has demonstrated great teamwork in assisting Pennsylvania residents who have suffered Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. 

 

PA-NRCS Welcomes Joe Kraft, as State Soil Scientist

Joe Kraft, a 29-year veteran with NRCS, has been selected as Pennsylvania's new State Soil Scientist.  Joe's primary duties will be to provide leadership for the National Cooperative Soil Survey Program and Technical Soil Services in Pennsylvania.  As a State Soil Scientist, Joe will identify needs for soils information relevant to NRCS and its partners' missions and communicate those needs to Major Land Resource Area soil scientists and resource soil scientists.