News & Notes November 2007

PACD Winter Meeting to Feature Alternative Funding Sources for Conservation Districts

Mark your calendar for the 2008 PACD Winter Meeting. The meeting will take place January 16-18, 2008 at the Ramada Conference Center, State College, PA.

The conference will feature a workshop on alternative funding sources for conservation districts as part of the PACD Strategic Planning Goal #4. (On an on-going basis, PACD will continue to forward information to conservation districts on alternative funding opportunities for districts.) A panel discussion on Thinking Outside the State Funding Box will include representatives from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, PA Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Education Grants Program, USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service's Conservation Innovation Grants Program, Foundation for PA Watersheds, and the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network. Westmoreland Conservation District will also participate by providing innovative funding examples from their county.

Other sessions will include:

• PACD Committee Meetings
  
• District Manager's Meeting
  
• Conservation Partnership Forum
  
• New Director Orientation
  
• PACD Conservation Issues Forum
  
• Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP) Forum
  
• State Conservation Commission Meeting
  
• PACD Executive Council Meeting

Look for more information on the meeting on the PACD website, www.pacd.org. The early registration deadline, which includes a discounted registration fee, is January 2, 2008. Pre-registrations will not be accepted after January 10, 2008. Please contact Molly Burns at (717) 238-7223 or molly-burns@pacd.org with questions about the meeting.

Achieving Pennsylvania's Energy Independence Goals While Strengthening Conservation Planning in PA - The Critical Role of Pennsylvania's Conservation Districts

Pennsylvania, along with the rest of the nation, has been advocating increased production and usage of renewable energy sources. New technologies are being developed that utilize combustion, anaerobic digestion, and gasification to generate energy from manure and other feedstocks. Nationwide, corn production has increased significantly, in part, to accommodate greater use for ethanol production. In fact, this year corn production in Pennsylvania alone increased by 100,000 acres from the previous growing season.

A recent report from the Chesapeake Bay Commission entitled, "Biofuels and the Bay" stated, "Handled correctly, biofuels have the potential to provide significant and permanent new income sources for farmers and foresters, while serving as a means to substantially reduce greenhouse gases and better manage agricultural nutrient loadings within the watershed. Handled incorrectly, biofuels could lead to shifts in crop patterns and acreages that create an uncertain future for farmers and foresters and seriously worsen the overload of nutrients to our rivers and the Bay." For these reasons, the PACD has produced a strategy to provide technical assistance to farmers as they consider altering their farm operations.

The PACD strategy includes funding for conservation districts that choose to expand technical assistance capacity commensurate with the development of biofuel and alternative energy production while also protecting soil, water, and air resources. We are requesting that any legislation creating a comprehensive energy initiative include $5 million to position conservation districts with the personnel necessary to provide new technical assistance and conservation planning for enhancing energy production derived from agricultural practices. The goal is providing conservation districts with the funding necessary to assist the farming community with implementing conservation practices in conjunction with Pennsylvania's energy production.

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