News & Notes December 2001

New Structure, Same Challenges for PACD Meetings

Recently, under the direction of the Participation Task Force, the PACD meeting schedule was restructured in order to increase participation in the Association’s statewide meetings. The committee has adopted a format of three meetings per year, beginning with the PACD Legislative Meeting – which will be held in Harrisburg in March 2002. The fall PACD meeting will be held at a central location, either in the State College or Altoona area.

The PACD/SCC Joint Annual Conference will be held during the summer, without a set location. The conference will be hosted by a different PACD region, alternating annually.

The 2002 Joint Annual Conference will be hosted by the counties of the Southcentral PACD Region, while the schedule for future conferences is as follows: 2003 – Central, 2004 – Southwest, 2005 – Northwest, 2006 – Northcentral, 2007 – Northeast, and 2008 – Southeast.

Presently conservation district staff from the Southcentral Region are working with PACD and SCC to plan the upcoming conference and Conservation Expo. For many of these individuals, this is their first experience planning a meeting of this size. What they are finding out is that the cost of arranging a meeting is higher than expected, primarily because of the broad range of charges that contribute to the cost. Items such as microphones, flip charts and overhead projectors all add up to a sizeable sum.

Certain expenses, such as charges for use of a meeting room, simply cannot be covered under PACD’s meeting budget, which limits the number of potential hotel sites for a statewide meeting. One expense that is unavoidable is gratuity, which is levied on all meals and food and beverage items at a rate of 18 to 20 percent. In some cases, hotels will levy a gratuity charge on all services provided including audio-visual equipment rentals.

For PACD, meeting planning is a challenging task. With the Joint Annual Conference now rotating from one region to the next, each district will have the opportunity to participate in planning an annual meeting and find out what exactly the process entails.

It All Adds Up:
Here’s a look at some of the expenses involved with a PACD meeting: Microphone – $35 each
Slide projector – $35
Coffee/soft drink break (without food) – $350 to $500
Video projector – $350
Bus rental – $350 to $600 (depending on distance traveled)
Van rental – $100 a day

Now available for viewing on the PACD website are the association’s State Funding Requests. PACD has provided the documents in order to provide district personnel with convenient access to the documents.

The following items can be accessed by clicking on the icon titled “State Funding Requests,” which can be found under the “About PACD” menu:

· Making the Link Between Land Use and the Environment -- Department of Community and Economic Development Funding Request, for Fiscal Year 2002-2003;

· PACD Funding Request for Conservation District Programs to the Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection, FY 02-03; · PACD Funding Proposal for Chapter 105 Streams and Encroachment Program, FY 02-03;

· PACD Funding Request for Conservation District Programs to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, FY 02-03; and

· PACD Concept Paper for Conservation District Education Specialists/Coordinators.

PACD Distributes CREP Funds to PA Farmers

The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc., is pleased to report that more than $650,000 has been distributed to Pennsylvania landowners and farmers through the Pennsylvania Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, to date. These funds have been distributed to 241 different landowners, dispersed through 537 individual payments.

CREP is a federal/state partnership that rents highly erodible farmland and riparian buffers and provides cost share payments for the installation of conservation practices to improve water quality and increase wildlife habitat. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the State Game Commission, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others are working with the United States Department of Agriculture on this effort.

Since the program kicked off last year, more than 5,000 acres of farmland have been enrolled in CREP, including more than 170 acres of riparian buffers.

Pennsylvania farmers have expressed an interest in enrolling another 20,000 acres from about 280 farms into the program. The USDA Farm Service Agency continues to accept CREP applications and process the federal portion of the program.

PACD administers the Growing Greener portion of the program on behalf of the PADEP, providing matching funds for the implementation of conservation practices.

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