News & Notes October 2003

CREP Program Expanded

PACD is currently providing cost-share money to farmers and landowners in the lower Susquehanna River Basin through a Growing Greener grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). These funds are used to implement best management practices through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

Recently, PACD was awarded another Growing Greener grant from the DEP for $1,660,000 to expand the available cost-share money to include the twenty-three counties in the northern Susquehanna River Basin.

More than $37.4 million in Growing Greener grants was awarded recently to help 220 local conservation organizations finance their continuing efforts to clean up watersheds, enhance environmental protection and revitalize communities across the commonwealth.

The program implements conservation planning to improve water quality and provide improved wildlife and fisheries habitat. Since CREP was initiated in Pennsylvania on June 1, 2000, millions of dollars have flowed into Pennsylvania's counties for conservation.

District Administrative Staff Conducts
Statewide Roundtable Meeting

Conservation District administrative support staff recently met in their first-ever statewide roundtable meeting. The meeting took place as part of the 2003 Conservation District Staff Conference sponsored by the "Building for Tomorrow" leadership development program. Twenty-two district professionals representing twenty conservation districts participated. The purpose of the meeting was to allow the district administrative staff to compare notes on how they handle similar program and operational responsibilities and to discuss important challenges to address in order to enhance district capabilities.

The participants identified Funding for District Administrative Positions as the most critical challenge that needs to be addressed. Funding meant to enhance the salary and/or benefits of administrative staff would assist districts in attracting and retaining the caliber of staff needed by today's growing conservation districts. The group felt strongly that an opportunity to address this challenge exists through a revision to the annual funding requests prepared by PACD for submission to the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection. A request for such a revision will be sent to PACD for their consideration.

The other top challenges for district administrative staff identified at the meeting were (a.) Increased Training for Administrative Staff (in areas such as bookkeeping, time management, office dynamics and computer software); (b.) Improved Staff-to-Staff and Staff-to-Management Communications and Support; and (c.) Program Staffing and Funding Issues. The group also identified potential training topics for future staff conferences.

Session participants volunteered to forward their thoughts and ideas to the appropriate individuals, agencies and organizations. It is hoped that additional administrative staff roundtables can be held in the future.

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