News & Notes June 2005

PACD Looking Forward to General Assembly Study of County Conservation Districts

On June 7, 2005, the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is scheduled to release a long-awaited study of the county conservation districts (CCDs), including a review of how CCDs are funded and managed.

The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) welcomes the General Assembly's review of CCDs and their management of county land and water resources. In addition, the PACD is pleased that the General Assembly is studying the adequacy of federal, state and county dollars, along with fees and fines, in funding the important mission of the CCDs.

PACD in early June plans to send information to CCDs on the committee's report, as it becomes available. The information will be mailed, emailed and faxed to members, as well as posted on our website at: www.pacd.org.

PACD is looking forward to working with the State Conservation Commission, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Protection in reviewing the findings and recommendations made by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.

Congratulations State Envirothon Winners

The 22nd Pennsylvania State Envirothon was held at Bloomsburg University and PPL Montour Preserve on May 23 and 24. High school students from 64 Pennsylvania counties participated in this year's event.

The Envirothon is designed to give students an opportunity to acquire and demonstrate a knowledge of environmental resources and their connection to each other and human activities. The students are challenged in the areas of aquatic ecology, forestry, soil/land use, wildlife and a current environmental issue. The 2005 current environmental issue was managing cultural landscapes.

Participating teams represent the best and the brightest of the thousands of high school teens who competed in local Envirothons sponsored by county conservation districts across the state. At the state level, the Envirothon is sponsored by Pennsylvania's sixty-six conservation districts, the State Conservation Commission, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts.

The 2005 Pennsylvania Envirothon champions will represent the Commonwealth at the 18th Canon Envirothon North American competition planned for mid-July at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Pennsylvania won the national event in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2003. More than 40 states and nine Canadian provinces have initiated Envirothon contests based on the program that was originally developed by Pennsylvania's conservation districts.

The 2005 State Envirothon champions from Penncrest High School in Delaware County pose with Secretary of Environmental Protection Kathleen McGinty and Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff.

The champions of the 2005 State Envirothon are from Penncrest High School in Delaware County. Team members include: Joe Walker, Aimee Davis, Michelle Henry, Emily Moberg and Vic Janmey. Team advisors are: Mark Samilenko and Chrissa Kuntz.

Second place was captured by the team from Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill County. Teams finishing out the top five were North East High School, in Erie County; Future Hope Homelearners in Snyder County; and Center Area High School, Beaver County.

For the first time ever, the PA Envirothon awarded scholarships to the first, second, and third place teams. The scholarships were sponsored by the PA Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the State Conservation Commission.

For the fourth year, an oral component event was held on the Monday before the testing event. The oral component consists of a team presentation to a panel of judges taking part in a question/answer session based on the current issue theme. A timed event, the competition tests a team's ability to consider an environmental issue, discuss its likely ramifications and effects, develop possible solutions, and then make a presentation before a group of judges and answer their questions. This year's oral component scenario was based on how to manage cultural landscapes. Participation was voluntary and was not included in the overall competition score. The top five teams in the oral component were: First Place - Westmoreland County; Second Place - Warren County; Third Place - Lawrence County; Fourth Place - Delaware County; and Fifth Place - Northampton County.

For more information on the Envirothon program, call (814) 623-7900 ext. 111, Email paenvirothon@pennswoods.net, or visit the website at www.envirothonpa.org.

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