PACD Front Page e-Newsletter

Front Page e-Newsletter

January 17, 2022

PACD Creates Responsible Use of De-Icers PSA – Please Share!

PACD created a public service announcement (PSA) to encourage citizens to reduce the use of salt and de-icers to prevent pollution. Please share!

Materials include:

Click here to view the webpage of materials. Please share the PSA scripts with your local radio stations. In addition, conservation districts and partners are encouraged to share the video on their social media channels.

Staff Conference Day 1 Sessions Focus on Managing Conflict and Stress

The 2022 Hybrid Staff Conference will take place February 16-17, 2022.

Dealing with difficult people and situations involves developing and applying skills not usually taught in traditional conservation training. The Staff Conference Day 1 workshop, presented by Rita Coleman Graham, will focus on self-awareness and situational awareness, active listening and assertive messaging skills, and techniques for de-escalating stressful interactions, with interactive exercises designed to empower conservation district staff to help improve their encounters with difficult people.

Pivoting from external encounters to internal reactions in stressful situations, the Day 1 Keynote Session will focus on resilience, stress, and humor to help staff find what presenter Jonathan Cleck describes as "calm amidst the storm." This presentation will share lessons learned from a career spent in intensely stressful situations. In addition, it will help staff understand the complexities of their emotional and mental responses to adversity, stress, and chaos.

Day 1 wraps up with the 2nd Annual Conservation District Video Awards presentation, where finalist entries from 2021 will be screened. The coveted CONDIVA trophy will be awarded to the top-scoring submissions. All district personnel are invited to tune in via Zoom at 3:00 p.m. on February 16, 2022, when we present the awards and recognize staff with exceptional training completion in Clean Water Academy.

Two days of learning and networking, two ways to participate - Visit Building for Tomorrow for more information and to register. The deadline for 2022 Hybrid Staff Conference registration is February 7.

Rita Coleman Graham, Owner of Coleman-Graham, brings decades of experience in the environmental field to provide facilitation and training for individuals, teams, and organizations on communication, conflict resolution, and leadership development to empower them to succeed.

Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Cleck is a career Navy SEAL officer, former Federal Air Marshal, FBI Task Force Officer, and recognized speaker on leadership, focusing on mental fortitude, team mindset, and building trust. Combining his diverse experiences in law enforcement and military special operations with his doctoral research in human performance, Jonathan's message uses humor and hard-learned lessons to help those who work through chaotic and unpredictable circumstances to maximize their ability to perform in today's challenging and unforgiving work environments.

Financial and other support for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program is provided through a grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission. Guidance for the Program is provided through the Pennsylvania Conservation Partnership’s Leadership Development Committee.

District directors, associate directors, and managers are invited to participate in this year’s Director Workshop series: Staff Retention, the Employee Life Cycle, and Post-Covid Policies, presented by Mary Kay Williams of State College-based MindShift Consulting and Matt Miller with PACD. The workshops will present an overview of the current district staffing situation, background, and concepts that underlie successful retention strategies for conservation districts. These sessions are intended to allow district leadership from across the state to share and discuss their own problems and solutions. Workshops are scheduled for February 24 at Westmoreland Conservation District, March 3 at Clinton County Conservation District, and March 9 in Harrisburg (and streaming online via Zoom). They are free of charge and include lunch for in-person attendees. Visit Building for Tomorrow for more information and to register.

Conservation District Booth at the PA Farm Show

Thank you to all the volunteers who made the conservation district booth possible at the 2022 PA Farm Show!

Thank you to the following conservation districts for volunteering:

Bedford

Berks

Centre

Clinton

Cumberland

Indiana

Lancaster

Lebanon

Schuylkill

Photo caption: Staff from Indiana County Conservation District staff the conservation district booth at the 2022 PA Farm Show on January 13, 2022. Photo was taken by Diane Young.

Beaver County Conservation District Installs Multifunctional Riparian Forest Buffer at Zelienople Airport

In a cooperative effort, the Beaver County Conservation District and the Zelienople Airport Authority combined forces to improve streams affected by the airport runway project. Although they were rerouted for the runway project, the future is bright for these streams!

Hundreds of native trees and shrubs were planted along streams affected by the runway project in the fall of 2021. This was made possible by a $26,000 grant received by the conservation district through the PACD Multifunctional Riparian Buffer Sub-grant Program.

Click here to read the entire article.

Photo caption: Photo provided by Beaver County Conservation District.

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 Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

USDA Offers Expanded Conservation Program Opportunities to Support Climate-Smart Agriculture in 2022

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is announcing several new and expanded opportunities for climate-smart agriculture in 2022. Updates include nationwide availability of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Conservation Incentive Contracts option, a new and streamlined EQIP Cover Crop Initiative, and added flexibilities for producers to easily re-enroll in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

Click here to read the entire article.

Photo caption: Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.