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News & Notes June 2007

Make a Difference
At the 2006 fall region meetings, PACD requested participation from the districts to help establish goals for PACD. PACD gathered this input from district representatives and established priorities from the different regions. PACD compiled the data and the PACD Executive Board used the information to draft strategic goals. In January of 2007, the PACD Executive Council approved these strategic goals. Then, PACD assigned each goal to a committee and asked them to develop an action plan to incorporate specific steps in achieving each goal.

Several of the committees assigned to develop the action plans specified "creating a subcommittee" as the first step in achieving the assigned strategic goal. The committees interested in creating a subcommittee are listed below along with a description of each sub committee's role in achieving the strategic goals.

Conservation Committee

Stormwater Subcommittee - The role of the Stormwater Subcommittee is to take the lead in defining the role of conservation districts in stormwater management.
Urban Subcommittee - The role of the Urban Subcommittee is to take the lead in identifying the role of conservation districts in interacting with local governments, and the role districts play in counties experiencing high levels of urban growth.

Education and Outreach Committee

Environmental Education (EE) Subcommittee - The role of the Environmental Education (EE) Subcommittee is to take the lead in defining the purpose of a Conservation District Environmental Education Program.
Marketing Tool-Kit Subcommittee - The role of the Marketing Tool-Kit Subcommittee is to take the lead in creating a conservation district marketing tool-kit.

Legislative Committee

Dedicated Funding Subcommittee - The role of the Dedicated Funding Subcommittee is to take the lead in determining possible dedicated funding sources.

Operations Committee

Long Range Planning Subcommittee - The role of the Long Range Planning Subcommittee is to take the lead in examining the long range viability of districts and PACD.

If you are passionate about an issue in your district or have expertise in one of the subcommittee areas, this is your chance to affect real change. Please consider becoming a subcommittee member and making a difference. Fill out a subcommittee interest form by clicking your subcommittee of choice on the PACD website at www.pacd.org/about/committees1.htm
Change is just a click away. Don't delay. Do it today.

2007 Pennsylvania State Envirothon Champions

The 24th Pennsylvania State Envirothon was held at Penn State University, University Park, in Centre County on May 21 and 22. High school students from 65 Pennsylvania counties participated in this year's event.

The Envirothon gives students an opportunity to acquire and demonstrate their 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 2007 current environmental issue was alternative/renewable energy.

Teams participating represent the best and the brightest of the thousands of high school teens who have competed in county Envirothon competitions sponsored by 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 2007 Pennsylvania Envirothon champions will represent the Commonwealth at the 20th Canon Envirothon North American competition planned for July 29 - August 3 at the Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York. Pennsylvania won the North American event in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005.

The 2007 State Envirothon champions are from Northern High School in York County. Team members include: l to r Coach Kim Holmes, Chris Jacobs, Hannah Richwine, Ben Mummert, Ben Spalding, Morgan Deluca and Coach Barb Lathrop.

Second place was captured by the team from Penncrest High School in Delaware County. Teams finishing out the top five were Warren Area High School in Warren County; Northeast Bradford High School in Bradford County; and East Lebanon County High School in Lebanon 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. This year's oral component scenario was based on alternative/renewable energy. The top five teams in the oral component were: First Place - Penncrest High School, Delaware County; Second Place - Warren Area High School, Warren County; Third Place - Future Hope Homelearners, Snyder County; Fourth Place - East Lebanon County High School, Lebanon County; and Fifth Place - Great Valley High School, Chester County.

For more information on the Envirothon program, contact your local conservation district or contact the Pennsylvania Envirothon by phone (814) 623-7900 ext. 111, Email paenvirothon@pennswoods.net, or visit the website at www.envirothonpa.org.

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