Site Map Home
About PACD Conservation Districts News Calendar of Events Products and Services Educational Resources Employment Opportunities
PACD News
Press Releases  

Newsletters

  
Front Page  
   

News & Notes June 2006


2006 NACD North East Region Meeting and
59th PACD/SCC Joint Annual Conference
July 23-27, 2006
The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College, PA

By now you and other conservation district directors and staff across the northeastern United States should have received an NACD North East Region Meeting and PACD/SCC Joint Annual Conference program and registration form in the mail.

Here are a few things you need to know about the conference:

  • Be sure to send in your registration form on or before June 23 to receive a discount.
  • Each voting delegate, alternate voting delegate, and district office will be mailed a copy of materials to review before voting at the Executive Council Meeting on Thursday, July 27, 2006. PACD is revising its policy book to reflect its new committees. The new policy book will be among the materials mailed to districts to review before the Executive Council Meeting.
  • If your district needs to update its PACD Voting Delegates, an updated Delegate Designation Form must be submitted to the PACD office no later than July 20, 2006. Remember: Delegate information is no longer submitted annually. It should be updated on an on-going basis as changes occur. The form is available at http://www.pacd.org/about/delegateform.htm.
  • Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Gold, Silver, and Patron level sponsorships are being accepted until June 15, 2006, and Hospitality Sponsorships are being accepted on an ongoing basis. Additional welcome bag goodies are also needed.
  • Donations are being accepted for the PACD Silent Auction. The auction benefits the PACD Capital Fund. The silent auction runs from Monday, July 24 at 9:30 a.m. until Tuesday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. Please have items delivered to the Conference Sunday evening.
  • Program materials and donation forms are available on the PACD website, http://www.pacd.org/events/JAC06/default.htm.

Call PACD at (717) 238-7223 or email molly-burns@pacd.org with any questions about the conference. See you in July!

Legacy Sediment Tour to Kick-off Conference

What is legacy sediment? Over time, centuries of intensive land use led to erosion of upland areas. This sediment was deposited in valley bottoms along stream corridors and persists, impairing water quality today. If you are interested in learning more about legacy sediment, attend the presentation and tour taking place the first day of the conference, Sunday, July 23, 2006.

The Northeast Association of Conservation District Employees will host a legacy sediment and sight-seeing tour to kickoff the conference. The tour will explore dam sites in Centre County where you will discover the tremendous impacts these dams had on their host streams.

In the evening, Franklin and Marshall College professors Dorothy J. Merritts and Robert C. Walter will present, "Disconnected Streams and the Legacy of Sediment Storage." Their studies identify a source of sediment and nutrients to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that has not been recognized before, and which is not currently included in any model used to determine sediment and nutrient reduction strategies.

Plan to come to the conference on Sunday and take part in these informative sessions on this "hot" topic in conservation.

Congratulations State Envirothon Winners

The 23rd Pennsylvania State Envirothon was held at Penn State Mont Alto on May 22 and 23. High school students from sixty-four Pennsylvania counties participated in this year's event.

The Envirothon is designed to give students an opportunity to acquire and demonstrate knowledge of environmental resources and their connection to each other and human activities. The students are challenged in the areas of aquatic ecology, forestry, soil/land use, wildlife and a current environmental issue. The 2006 current environmental issue was water stewardship and a changing climate.

Participating teams represent the best and the brightest of the thousands of high school teens who competed in local Envirothons sponsored by county conservation districts across the state. At the state level, the Envirothon is sponsored by Pennsylvania's sixty-six conservation districts, the State Conservation Commission, and PACD.

The 2006 Pennsylvania Envirothon champions, Penncrest High School in Delaware County, will represent the Commonwealth at the 19th Canon Envirothon North American competition at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in mid-July. Pennsylvania won the national event in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2005.


The 2006 State Envirothon champions from Penncrest High School in Delaware County are (left to right): Michelle Henry, Vic Janmey, Teresa Flifer, Emily Moberg, and Aimee Davis. The team's advisors (not pictured) are Mark Samilenko and Chrissa Kuntz.

Second place was captured by the team from Carmichaels Area High School in Greene County. Teams finishing out the top five were Northern High School in York County, Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill County, and Bald Eagle Area High School in Centre County.

The PA Envirothon awarded scholarships to the first, second, and third place teams. The scholarships were sponsored by the PA Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the State Conservation Commission.

An oral component event was held on the Monday before the testing event. The oral component consists of a team presentation to a panel of judges taking part in a question/answer session based on the current issue theme, Water Stewardship and a Changing Climate. The top five teams in the oral component were: First Place -Bedford County; Second Place -Delaware County; Third Place - Beaver County; Fourth Place - Chester County; and Fifth Place - Warren County.

For more information on the Envirothon program, call (814) 623-7900 ext. 111, Email paenvirothon@pennswoods.net, or visit the website at www.envirothonpa.org.

Page 2>
About PACD | Conservation Districts | News | Events | Products & Services | Resources | Employment

© 2003 Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc.