News & Notes January 2001

PACD to Administer $750,000 to Prevent Erosion Through CREP

On January 26, 2000, Gov. Tom Ridge signed a $210 million agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will preserve up to 100,000 acres of farmland and improve wildlife habitat in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

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 in the Bay watershed. DEP, the State Game Commission, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others are working with the United States Department of Agriculture on this effort.

In addition, DEP is working with the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts to use Growing Greener funds to support conservation practices on CREP lands. In 2001, PACD will administer $750,000 in Growing Greener funds for the installation of Best Management Practices, to prevent runoff from farms in the Susquehanna River Basin under CREP.

Since July, about 1,000 acres of farmland has been enrolled in CREP, while Pennsylvania farmers have expressed interest in enrolling another 20,000 acres of land, from about 280 farms.

New Insurance Provider for PACD Members

Several years ago, the PACD organized an insurance program that provided Public Officials Liability Insurance for conservation districts. The program it developed has been in place for approximately two years. PACD members insured through the Commonwealth Professional Group (CPG) are advised that their original carrier for Public Officials Liability Insurance has canceled its relationship with CPG and the PACD.

Coverage has been secured under a new provider, the Philadelphia Insurance Company, effective January 1, 2001, following the expiration of the previous policy. The new Public Officials Policy has been expanded to include Employment Practices Liability Insurance.

If you currently have Worker’s Compensation through CPG and the Princeton Insurance Company, this coverage will remain in place. CPG is finalizing the pricing on the program and there will be a moderate increase in premium. Invoicing will be delayed until mid-January to allow conservation district boards time to thoroughly examine the new rates.

A New Year’s Resolution: Keep Up With Your District’s E-mail

If your conservation district has a local e-mail account through your county, or a local Internet service provider, you can have your DEP e-mail automatically forwarded to your local address. This will make it easier to manage your e-mail system and ensure you that you won’t miss any statewide e-mail announcements.

The PACD Technology Committee recommends that districts regularly check e-mail on their DEP e-mail address. For districts using an address other than their DEP account, the committee recommends having DEP mail forwarded to their primary address.

Districts who need to set up the forward feature are asked to contact Fred Fiscus of the Bureau of Water Quality Protection, at 717-772-3344 or by e-mail at cfiscus@state.pa.us.

PACD Executive Director Susan Fox encourages district managers to read their e-mail. Executive Director Fox said that the DEP conservation district list is the only maintained e-mail system in the state to ensure delivery of important messages to all conservation districts. District managers need to have access to the messages sent through this system.

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