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Conservation Districts in the News
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| Upcoming Events |
Fall Region Meetings
Save the Date:
PACD/SCC Winter Meeting
January 28-29, 2014
Ramada Conference Center, State College, PA
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PACD Provides Support to 15th Annual Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference
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 | | Pictured from left to right: Andy McAllister, WPCAMR; Robert Maiden; Terry Fisher; Eric Robertson; and Robert Hughes, EPCAMR, at the 2013 Annual AMR Conference. |
Robert Maiden, Terry Fisher and Eric Robertson were on-hand to discuss partnership opportunities with the Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMR) community during the 15th Annual AMR Conference. The multi-day event, which took place in State College, began with a pre-conference workshop on August 8.
During their August 9 session, PACD staff had a chance to engage with the attendees, and offer ways for groups to partner with conservation districts as well as learn about PENNVEST funding opportunities for AMR projects.
"PACD was honored to be able to provide support to the 15th annual conference," said Brandi Hunter-Davenport. "We look forward to doing more outreach with both EPCAMR and WPCAMR in addressing AMR issues in the state."
To learn more about this conference or for information about the 2014 conference, visit http://2013.treatminewater.com/15th-anniversary-pa-amr-conference-deemed-a-huge-success.
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PA Team Finishes Ninth in North American Envirothon
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 | | York Homeschool Association team members pose at the North American Envirothon awards ceremony where they took ninth place. They are (left to right): Michael Renga, Collin Inners, Morgan Staub, Jessica Picone, and Mariah Henry. |
York Homeschool Association represented Pennsylvania in the 2013 North American Envirothon. Sponsored by Canon U.S.A. and local conservation districts, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of Conservation Districts, the Envirothon is North America's largest high school environmental education competition. This year's competition took place at Montana State University from August 4-9, where 57 teams representing 47 U.S. states, nine Canadian provinces and one Canadian territory competed for a share of $175,000 in scholarships, host grants and Canon products.
The team from Pennsylvania took ninth place while New York, Massachusetts, and Missouri placed as the top three teams. Each team member from the York County Homeschool Association was awarded an $1,100 scholarship. Click here to read more. Click here to read a special announcement about the North American Envirothon.
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Wayne Conservation District Marks 30th Year of Woodsmen Competition
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 | | One of 22 participants in the chain sawing competition makes three cuts in a log, one down, one up and one down. Timing starts when the saw hits the wood and ends when the third piece hits the ground. Photo provided by Wayne Conservation District. |
Bob Muller, manager at the Wayne Conservation District just completed his 28th year of organizing a Woodsmen Competition for the Wayne County Fair. When asked if the August 3rd event was for fundraising, Muller said, "It is more for awareness of the forest industry in Wayne County. We also discussed chainsaw safety and the Game of Logging at the competition." Each event offered trophies and prize money for first, second and third places. Click here for the event program. Read more here.
 | | The Wayne Conservation District banner flies over t-shirts from each year of the Woodsmen's Competition. Photo provided by Wayne Conservation District. |
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Huntingdon County Watershed Association Receives Governor's Award
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by Celina Seftas
 | | A native brook trout. |
The Shoup's Run Watershed Association, of Huntingdon County, was a recipient of the 2013 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. The awards are the highest statewide honor bestowed upon businesses and organizations for environmental performance and innovation from cleaning up watersheds, saving energy, and eliminating pollution, to reducing waste and more. The Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence are presented each year by the Department of Environmental Protection to highlight the best in environmental innovation and expertise throughout the commonwealth.
Shoup's Run received the award for the Miller Run Brook Trout Enhancement Project, where years of work to restore this AMD-impacted stream have resulted in a growing population of native brook trout.
Andy Patterson, District Manager for the Huntingdon County Conservation District, has worked with the watershed group to install 3 passive treatment systems along Miller Run and complete limestone sand dosing to drastically improve water quality in order to support aquatic life.
Further, a dirt and gravel roads project was completed along the 2 miles of gamelands road that run adjacent to the stream, reclaiming mine spoil once used for the road surface and replacing it with high-calcium carbonate limestone and dirt and gravel road BMPs.
Celina Seftas, Watershed Specialist, worked with the watershed group to write a Coldwater Heritage Conservation Plan for Miller Run, setting up a transition from restoration of the stream to enhancement of aquatic life and habitat. The installation of a new stream crossing to improve trout migration and reproduction in the stream was cited in the Coldwater Heritage report and was the project that granted Shoup's Run the Governor's Award.
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Calling Workshop Presenters for 2014 PAEE Conference
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Planning for the 2014 Pennsylvania Association of Environmental Educators (PAEE) Conference is currently underway and organizers are seeking presenters for the multi-day event.
The event will take place March 14-15 at the Antiochian Village near Ligonier, PA.
Anyone interested in presenting at the conference is asked to think about how their work fits into one of Earth's spheres: geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and the biosphere. The conference will be broken into tracks by these spheres with a career track as a fifth option for presenting.
Presenters will receive a 10% discount on their conference registration if they choose to attend the remainder of the conference. For a workshop proposal submission form, please contact Ruth Roperti, PAEE president, at rroperti@zoominternet.net or 724-843-7046/412-974-7859. Presentations are to be an hour in length.
For more information about PAEE, visit www.paee.net. For more information about Antiochian Village, visit http://antiochianvillage.org/camp. Information about registration for the 2014 conference will be made available soon.
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| FREE Webinars Scheduled on Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool | |
Two webinars have been scheduled on the Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool or CAST. CAST is a web-based nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment load estimator tool. The training will help participants apply the CAST model to local watershed BMP implementation planning efforts.
- CAST training focused on urban applications Date: Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013 Time: 1-3 p.m.
- CAST training focused on agricultural applications Date: Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 Time: 1-3 p.m.
There is no charge to participate in the webinars. Read more about CAST here. Email Olivia H. Devereux or call 301-325-7449 with questions.
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| International Coastal Cleanup | | |
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