News Release

PACD Announces Clean Water Farm Awards Recipients

Farmers from Luzerne and Lebanon counties have been selected to receive the 2001 Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award. They are:

• Charles and Marlene Bomgardner, who own and operate a 177-acre farm in North Annville Township, Lebanon County; and

• Mark Verbyla, who manages a 120-acre dairy farm in Sweet Valley, Luzerne County.

The award recipients will be recognized during the Pennsylvania Association of Conservations Districts, Inc. (PACD) Annual Conservation Awards Program scheduled for July 17, 2001 at the Toftrees Resort in State College, PA. In addition to a plaque, award recipients will receive a large "Clean Water Farm Award" sign to erect on their property, demonstrating their commitment to protecting local water quality.

Recipients of the Clean Water Farm Awards are nominated by county conservation district staff, from districts within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The Clean Water Farm Awards Program is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Program's Education Office.

Both the 2001 Clean Water Farm Award recipients have worked diligently to install and maintain Best Management farming practices that control soil erosion and prevent excess fertilizers and pesticides from entering streams and groundwater supplies. Establishing these practices helps both local and downstream water quality.

In Pennsylvania, more than half of the state's 67 counties are located within the Susquehanna River Basin, which supplies nearly half of the fresh water running into the Chesapeake Bay. Sound agricultural practices, such as those maintained by Mark Verbyla and Charles and Marlene Bomgardner, are critical to Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts.

The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc., a private, nonprofit organization representing Pennsylvania's 66 county conservation districts, administers the Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Education Office. The Bay Education Office conducts numerous activities promoting the theme, "We All Live Downstream."