The Communications, Public Relations & Marketing Tips Series

At the end of August, we attended the Berks County Conservation District's Tulpehocken Creek Celebration Tour. At the first tour stop, the district had a table and display set up for participants. What caught our attention were two photo books the district had on display which showcased their project successes (see photo).

We love the idea of using photo books for several reasons:

• They are inexpensive - $20-25 each to create.
• Before and after photos can be placed side by side offering a visual accounting of what your conservation district does on a daily basis.
• Text can be added to the photos to explain what practice is being implemented.
• Because they are lightweight and portable, they can be used at the district office entry area when not being used in conjunction with a display.

To create your own photo book try Snapfish or Shutterfly.  Both of these sites allow you to upload your photos and put them in the order you would like. You can add text, change colors, and more. When you are finished you can order your photo book in just a couple of clicks. 

This inexpensive, easy-to-produce product is a great tool to promote the work your district performs every day to fulfill its mission. Kudos to Berks County Conservation District for using photo books for more than just showing off the grandkids!

Registration for Upcoming 102-105 Meeting in State College

How to Keep Your Logger Boots Clean Workshop Taking Place Early October

Two District Managers Head up Coalition

Assistant Professor of Geology Dr. Chris Whisner and Dr. Jen Whisner, also an Assistant Professor of Geology, demonstrated the Groundwater Models at Bloomsburg University (BU). Attending the training was Maryruth Wagner, Columbia County Conservation District Manager, Nancy Corbin, Columbia County Conservation District, and Lauren Brousseau, a BU student volunteer. Not pictured, but attending, was Heather Almer, Columbia County Conservation District Watershed Specialist. The group learned how to use the groundwater model to demonstrate impacts from pollution on wells, septic systems, ponds, lakes and other water bodies. The training was an effort of the newly formed Columbia-Montour Source Water Protection Coalition.

Columbia County Conservation District Manager Maryruth Wagner and Montour County Conservation District Manager Kim Leshock are working together to create a Columbia-Montour Source Water Protection Coalition. These partners will promote long-range strategies to urge protection and preservation of water resources for future generations.

"Through the WREN grant, we are working to bring together the partners from our communities to work towards a common goal.  The goal is to ensure that our communities have clean water and a healthy environment.  We have a large contingent that meets regularly that supports our mission," said Wagner.

The mission reads as:

To promote the protection and conservation of source water resources by

•  Partnering with agriculture, industry, landowners and municipalities
• Educating the public
• Developing risk-reduction strategies for protection.

Under this umbrella, the Coalition will form a Source Water Environmental Education Team (SWEET) and conduct a series of public education and outreach events at schools and community meetings using models and maps to describe source water protection areas and to encourage land use planning and resource management practices that result in reduction of water contamination threats. The team will develop educational materials including a brochure and website for public outreach. The Coalition will also seek participation from all water suppliers in Columbia and Montour counties to develop source water protection plans.                     

This project is being funded by a $7,000 grant from the Water Resources Education Network (WREN), a project of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen's Education Fund through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for Drinking Water Source Water Protection administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

By Sallie Gregory, Lancaster County Conservation District Education Coordinator

Conservation School students with Philippe Cousteau, following filming, seated on newly installed log deflector. Photo provided by Lancaster County Conservation District.

Jacques Cousteau's grandson, Philippe Cousteau, President of the EarthEcho International Foundation, has carried the Cousteau conservation minded spirit into a new project, EarthEcho Expedition Chesapeake: Into the Dead Zone, highlighting student service learning and actions that cause positive changes in your local watershed eventually affecting our global watersheds.

The Lancaster County Youth Conservation School a program of the Lancaster County Conservation District partnering with the Federated Sportsmen of Lancaster County was excited to be selected to be part of the web-based film project.  Twenty-five students, ages 14-16, participated in the Conservation School held July 21-27 at the Northern Lancaster Game and Fish Protective Association.  They were filmed while moving rocks and logs building a log deflector in Middle Creek during a day focused on water quality.

Click here to read more.