PA Association of Conservation Districts
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In This Issue
Visit the Conservation District Booth at the Farm Show!
PACD Committees Almost Filled!
Apply Now for Agricultural Conservation Technical Training
Nominations Being Accepted for PA Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award
Annual Best Management Practices Tour takes place in McKean County
NACD's John Larson Looks Back at the Year in Conservation
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Releases 2012 State of the Bay Report
Annual Photo Contest - Submit Your Best Lake Photo Today!
Conservation Landscape Summit Rescheduled from October
Upcoming Events
Previous Issues of Front Page
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January 7, 2013
Visit the Conservation District Booth at the Farm Show!
Farm Show Set up 2013
(Left to right): Shane Kleiner (PA Dept. of Environmental Protection), Sandy Austin (PACD), and Chris Thompson (York County Conservation District), set up the conservation district booth at the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Friday, January 04. The Show runs from January 5-12. Be sure to stop by the conservation district booth in the main exhibit hall and say hello!

PACD Committees Almost Filled!  
Committee members needed button

PACD has six standing committees. Membership of each committee is composed of up to six conservation district directors and/or associate directors, and up to six staff, from conservation districts in good standing.

 

Over the past several months, PACD Executive Director Robert Maiden, along with the PACD Executive Board, has reached out to individuals, asking them to serve on PACD's committees. Due to these efforts, five of the six committees are filled! The sixth, the District Employees' Committee, has three vacancies for district directors/associate directors. If you are interested in volunteering for one of these vacancies, please click on http://pacd.org/about1/committees and complete the Committee Interest Form.

 

Help us fill our committees to capacity which will bring a diversity of strengths and knowledge to the committee goals. Current committee members can be found at:  http://pacd.org/about1/committees.

Apply Now for Agricultural Conservation Technical Training  
boot camp
John Chibirka (right) instructs the Level II training in April 2012. Photo by Holly Hunt.

Applications are now being accepted for the Agricultural Conservation Technical Training ("Boot Camp" Basic level and Level II). Conservation district staffs are encouraged to take advantage of these free, week-long training opportunities which include both classroom learning and experience in the field.

 

The basic level will take place April 1-5 and Level II will be April 22-26. Both courses will be at Ft. Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA (Lebanon County). The deadline to apply is February 15, 2013. Read more about the Basic Level training hereRead more on Level II here. Contact Shannon Wehinger at Shannon-wehinger@pacd.org with any questions.

 

These training opportunities are made possible by the following sponsors: Natural Resources Conservation Service, PA Department of Agriculture/State Conservation Commission and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc.

Nominations Being Accepted for PA Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award
Submit a nomination to be entered to win a pizza party!

pizza party stock image

Conservation districts are encouraged to submit an application for the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award which recognizes Pennsylvania farmers with operations within the Susquehanna and Potomac River Basins, whose exemplary farm management practices result in improved local and downstream water quality.

 

Did your district recognize a cooperator of the year? Nominate them. Or perhaps a farm in your county works with the district to implement pollution prevention strategies. Nominate them.


New for this year, each district that submits a complete nomination will be entered into a drawing to win a $100 pizza party for their office!

 

The Clean Water Farm Award Program is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Education Office (administered by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc.). Nominations must be received at the PACD office no later than February 28, 2013.

 

Information can be found at http://pacd.org/education/chesapeake-bay-education-office/cwfa. Contact Director of Communication Shannon Wehinger at Shannon-wehinger@pacd.org with any questions.

Annual Best Management Practices Tour takes place in McKean County

McKean BMP Tour
Sandy Thompson, District Manager, speaks with tour participants (left to right) Cliff Lane, Commissioner and Director; Ben Renner, NRCS; Representative Martin Causer; Kerry Fetter, District Chairman; Fran DeLancey, Bradford Era; Mike Dodge, Juvenile Probation; Joe DeMott, Commissioner; Stan Hess, Bureau of Forestry; Pete Mader, PA Fish & Boat Commission; and Lindsay Shine, Resource Conservationist at a stop during the day-long event. Photo courtesy of the McKean Conservation District.

On September 28, 2012, the McKean Conservation District hosted its Annual Best Management Practices (BMP) tour. The tour, which aimed to highlight completed projects for the calendar year, included site visits to Richard Brown's Agricultural Operation, a Growing Greener Upper Allegheny Watershed Protection project; Jeff Brown's Agricultural Operation, a Growing Greener Two-Mile Watershed Renaissance Initiative; the recently completed Dirt and Gravel Road project on Knapp Road in Annin Township; and a visit to the Port Allegany School, a project funded through the PA Fish and Boat Commission's Sinnemahoning Watershed Grant Program. 

NACD's John Larson Looks Back at the Year in Conservation

NACD logo

NACD's CEO Video Update for the month of December is now available online. In this four-minute video, CEO John Larson takes a look back at the year in conservation: 

http://vimeo.com/56338101.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Releases 2012 State of the Bay Report

Report Shows Progress-But Much More Needs To Be Done

 http://www.cbf.org/2012stateofthebay The newly released State of the Bay Report provides updates on key water quality indicators, positive stories about green infrastructure (including Lancaster's efforts), the importance of Menhaden, and encouragement for states and local communities to move forward with local water quality improvements. The report is a comprehensive measure of the Bay's health. Click here to read the report

Annual Photo Contest - Submit Your Best Lake Photo Today! 

PALMS Photo Winner
Pennsylvania Lace taken by Mary Moraghan received first place in the 2012 PALMS Photo Contest.

The PA Lake Management Society will continue it's tradition of rewarding great Pennsylvania lake photography at the 2013 conference in State College! You can participate by contributing photographs taken throughout the year on any of our beautiful PA lakes. A contest will be held and prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners again this year. Submissions must be received by February 15, 2013. Click here for the contest rules.

Conservation Landscape Summit Rescheduled from October

Conservation Landscape Summit

Learn how communities are using their natural assets to drive local conservation, planning and community economic revitalization efforts during the Conservation Landscape Summit. The event is taking place January 14-15 in Harrisburg, PA.