News & Notes January 2007

The All Bay Meeting, held at the Holiday Inn Grantville on December 12, 2006, was attended by 145 staff from conservation districts and agencies. PACD played an integral part in planning the meeting, handling registrations, working with the hotel, and assembling the packets of handouts. Susan Marquart, PACD Executive Director, served as the master of ceremonies. During the meeting, attendees heard about local projects from conservation district staff, participated in an information exchange session, and learned about current issues affecting the Bay.

The keynote speaker, Richard Batiuk from the Environmental Protection Agency, kicked off the meeting talking about how Pennsylvania is doing and how the Chesapeake Bay is responding. "The Susquehanna River is running much cleaner than it was twenty-five years ago. Nutrient and sediment concentrations are trending down. Conservation districts are making a tremendous difference. Pennsylvania is headed in the right direction," said Batiuk. He also encouraged attendees to keep up the momentum.

Adams County Conservation District Manager Larry Martick asked Batiuk what will happen in 2010 if Pennsylvania doesn't meet the Bay Program goals. Batiuk said, "If that happens, we will move towards more regulatory actions so let's get as much on the ground as we can by 2010."

The next session was "Conservation District Special Projects in the Spotlight." The projects included access lane stabilization (Bradford County Conservation District), Timber Harvest Site Stabilization (Clearfield County Conservation District), Amish No-Till (Snyder County Conservation District), and Precision Agriculture (Bedford County Conservation District). Comments on the meeting evaluation forms included that "it's very beneficial to see what other conservation districts are doing" and having "real life presentations from districts is very worthwhile."

Presenters shared project successes and suggested changes for improving the projects. For example, Bradford CCD's project to reduce sediment from private driveways didn't get as many applications for the program as the district hoped. The district realized the $500 landowner incentive was not enough. To increase landowner enrollment, Bradford CCD would increase the landowner incentive amount offered per project next time around.

A general session followed the conservation district staff presentations. Duke Adams from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) presented the Bay Program Administrative Manual. Steve Taglang (DEP) and Don McNutt, Administrator of the Lancaster County Conservation district co-presented information on ACRE grants, and Ann Smith (DEP) provided a nutrient trading update. She said that the final document will include a 10% reserve pool of credits and that DEP will be responsible for oversight and management of the program. Currently, DEP is working with the World Resources Institute to create an online marketplace to match credit generators with those who need the credits.

Attendees and representatives from eighteen agencies and organizations met and mingled during the Bay Information Exchange session.

After lunch, a Bay Information Exchange was held. This was another session that attendees rated positively in the meeting evaluations. Attendees mingled and met with representatives from eighteen agencies and nonprofit organizations. This session provided a good opportunity to network and to ask questions of presenters through some attendees thought too much time was allotted for the exchange.

A panel of representatives from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, PA Department of Environmental Protection, and the State Conservation Commission answered attendees' questions during the All Bay Meeting.

Barry Spangler, Snyder County Conservation District's Chesapeake Bay Technician, asks the agency panel a question.

The last sessions of the day showed cooperation from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, DEP, and the State Conservation Commission on agricultural erosion and sedimentation planning and manure management planning. During these presentations, attendees learned details on program changes. To learn about specific changes, check out the All Bay Meeting presentations and handouts posted on the DEP's Conservation District Niche website, http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/watermgt/wc/ccd/default.htm.

John Hines, Executive Director of DEP's Water Planning Office, wrapped-up the day by acknowledging that the Bay issue is politically charged and that a lot of work needs to be done by 2010. However, conservation districts efforts are key to moving forward. Hines said, "We need to keep moving forward to meet the 2010 target goals. We have to start celebrating our success. Keep trudging forward. We cannot stray from the course. We have to keep moving forward." Hines encouraged the audience to stop focusing on what we aren't going to achieve and start celebrating our success.

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