Catalog of Sample Policies for Pennsylvania's Conservation Districts

Maintaining and Reviewing Policies

All conservation district policies (as well as position statements) should be officially adopted at a monthly district meeting. Once developed into a final draft, a proposed policy should be distributed and discussed at a district meeting. The official adoption of the policy should be done at the following district meeting to allow the district directors to contemplate the intent and consequences of the policy and to allow for any possible public input into the policy as proposed.

Conservation Districts should keep all officially adopted policies in a Policy Manual. A copy of the manual should be provided to every district director and every member of the staff. Copies of specific policies should be available to the public in situations covered by the policies. For example, copies of a policy on public input and media coverage should be available at monthly district meetings.

Just as important as creating a policy manual, a conservation district needs to maintain and review the policy manual it creates. One of the first policies you may want to consider is a policy on how policies are created, adopted and reviewed. Be sure that the district's policies are still in line with district program responsibilities as well as current legal and regulatory requirements.

The final factor in successfully creating and using policies to help manage how the conservation district does business is training. It is not enough to create policies and just keep them on the shelf. District policies should be reviewed with all new (and existing) district staff and directors are part or an established orientation process. Remember, too, that investigations into some business situations and issues (such as accusations of sexual harassment) actually look at whether or not training is held - some times on an annual basis - to deter the situation or issue being investigated. If such training is not conducted, the conservation district can be held partially liable for the actions.