PACD Front Page 04.09.18

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PA Association of Conservation Districts

Front Page: Your Weekly News & Updates

Nonpoint source pollution grants, agricultural conservation technical training, news from Greene, Washington, Venango, Tioga, Blair, and Bradford Counties, request from Office of Open Records, and news from NRCS.

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Over $34,000 Awarded to Conservation Districts for Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Educational Projects

Eighteen projects in 17 counties were selected for funding, totaling more than $34,000 for the 2018 round of the Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Mini-grant Program for Conservation Districts. The program is administered by PACD and funding is provided through the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

"PACD is thrilled to work with DEP to fund projects across the Commonwealth. This funding will allow districts to educate citizens about their part in reducing nonpoint source pollution," said PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh. "The result will be cleaner water and healthier soil for future generations."

The projects funded are:

Allegheny	Equine Environmental Stewardship Short Course
Beaver	Stormwater Help for Homeowners
Bedford	Homeowner Practices to Minimize Stormwater/NPS Pollution Impacts
Berks	Preventing Nonpoint Source Pollution through Adult Education in Berks County
Bradford	Interseeder and BMP Demonstration Days
Chester	Chester County "Day on the Bay"
Dauphin	Rain Barrel Workshops
Elk	Non-Point Source Pollution Educational Series
Erie	We All Live Downstream: A Residential Stormwater Workshop
Greene	Stormwater Workshops
Lackawanna	Stormwater Management In Your Back Yard
Lawrence	Pilot Teacher's Watershed and Stormwater Workshop
McKean	McKean County Streamside Stewardship
Perry	SCOPE = Scientific Citizens Observing Pollution (in the) Environment.
Potter	Ag-Stravaganza
Wayne	A Precipitation Education: Rain Barrel Workshop
Wayne	Stream Maintenance and Flood Intervention Workshop
Westmoreland	Green Infrastructure Tour in the Turtle Creek, Sewickley Creek, and Jacobs Creek Watersheds

Financial and other support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo caption: Monroe County Conservation District conducted outreach using a rain simulator as part of a nonpoint source pollution prevention educational mini-grant in 2017.

Agricultural Conservation Technical "Boot Camp" Basic Level Training Concludes

Thirty individuals attended Agricultural Conservation Technical Boot Camp Training - Basic Level April 2-6, 2018, at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County. Attendees included staff from conservation districts, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and affiliates, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the PA Department of Environmental Protection.

The training is sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the State Conservation Commission. PACD works with these partners to coordinate the training.

Photo caption: Participants in the Basic Level of Agricultural Conservation Technical Training pose for a group photo on the first day of training.

Greene and Washington County Conservation Districts Team Up to Create Streambank Restoration Video

The Washington County Conservation District and the Greene County Conservation District used Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Educational Mini-grant funds (administered by PACD) to produce a video of a municipal streambank tour and restoration event.

The video highlights the event and provides basic information about stream banks and restoration. So far, the Washington County Conservation District has received two calls from residents who saw the video and want to conduct restoration projects on their property.

The video can be accessed at the following URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W52sKqAI_AQ

Photo caption: Screenshot from the "Streambank Restoration in Washington County" YouTube video.

Tioga and Venango Counties Receive Technical Assistance Grants

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) recently announced the approval of the final round of technical assistance grants totaling more than $2 million to conservation districts and their state partners. These grants will fund 48 positions and are for technical assistance in priority locations with a high workload of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts or priority demand for conservation planning assistance.

This final round of grants funds full or part-time positions, including: technicians, program support specialists, foresters, agronomists, engineers, archeologists, grazing specialists, and resource and range conservationists.

Tioga and Venango Conservation Districts were included in the list of approved applications in the final round of grants.

Combined with earlier rounds of grants announced, NACD has approved $9 million in grants for 212 total positions in 48 states and territories as a part of this project.

Click here to read the entire press release.

Blair County Conservation District Park Featured on Local News

On March 29, 2018, the Blair County Conservation District held a groundbreaking ceremony in Hollidaysburg. The future site of NatureWorksPark will house a park and eventually a new office building for the district.

Click here to see a video on the groundbreaking and here for a news article on the plans for the park and future office building.

Photo caption: Screenshot from the "Groundbreaking ceremony held for new nature park" video from WTAJ News.

Bradford County Conservation District Offers C over Crop Inter-Seeder in 2018

Submitted by: Nathan Dewing, Agricultural Team Leader, Bradford County Conservation District

"I want something growing in my soil 365 days of the year." This is what more and more farmers are saying as they look into how soil functions and maintains a healthy environment for billions of beneficial organisms. Maximizing days with living roots in the soil is foundational. This is why the Bradford County Conservation District (BCCD) is bringing a new piece of farm equipment to our fields in 2018 - a high clearance cover crop inter-seeder.

With six feet of ground clearance, the inter-seeder can drive through a standing crop of corn to plant seeds that will begin to grow as the corn nears maturity. The inter-seeder will also be used to plant cover crop into soybeans, a crop that rarely is followed by a cover crop in our area because of its late harvest. The inter-seeder will be available for farms in Bradford and surrounding counties. Farmers should contact their county conservation district to inquire about scheduling the inter-seeder at their farm.

Photo provided by BCCD.

Click here to read the entire press release.

PA Office of Open Records ("OOR") to Launch Agency Open Records Officer Database

The Office of Open Records ("OOR") is launching a searchable, online database of Agency Open Records Officer ("AORO") contact information for every agency in the Commonwealth. The AORO database will allow the public to contact the correct AORO to request agency records and will ensure that the OOR can contact AOROs in the event an appeal is filed with the OOR. As part of the new online database, agencies can also update their AORO information online.

The OOR will launch the online AORO search function to the public on April 16, 2018. Prior to the launch date, the OOR is asking that all agencies review and confirm their AORO contact information at the following link: http://openrecords.pa.gov/AORO/

To review your agency's contact information, search your agency's name, click the edit icon next to your agency, then click submit. All emails associated with the account will receive a confirmation e-mail. Detailed step-by-step instructions are also available on the OOR's website. The OOR will review and confirm any changes within five business days.

If you have any difficulty accessing the online registration form or have any other questions about the process, please contact the OOR at (717) 346-9903 or [email protected].

The OOR also provides many Right to Know Law (RTKL) resources on its website, http://openrecords.pa.gov , including OOR Final Determinations, court decisions, agency guides, sample affidavits, forms, and numerous other documents related to the RTKL.

Updates to NRCS Soil Health Literature and the Science Behind Healthy Soil

Do you know about the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Health Literature webpage that provides you access to peer-reviewed literature summaries explaining the science behind healthy soil? The information in the "Soil Health Literature" files on the webpage describes the impact of conservation practices on physical and chemical properties important for healthy soil as summarized by NRCS Soil Health specialists.

Please note that the peer-reviewed papers and conservation practices included are not exhaustive and will be added to periodically. Recently, sixty peer-reviewed papers and summaries/citations have been added to the "Soil Health Literature Matrix of Soil Properties and Summaries and Citations" files for your use. The literature review currently focuses primarily on cropland and the physical and chemical properties of soil. However, soil biological properties, economics, and other land uses will be included in future updates. An on-demand webinar and slides that explain the review project are also available on the site.

Click here to view the webpage.