PACD Front Page e-Newsletter

Front Page e-Newsletter

September 27, 2021

2022 Poster Contest Theme: “Healthy Soil: Healthy Life”

Just in time for back to school! The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has announced the 2022 Poster Contest theme: “Healthy Soil: Healthy Life." PACD will be accepting photos of your county's winners until June 30, 2022. We are very excited to see all the artistic entries for this year's theme!

Click here to read more.

PACD Team Participates in York County Clay Shoot

On September 17, 2021, PACD’s 4-person team traveled to York County for the 14th annual Sporting Clays Fundraiser benefitting the York County Envirothon.

Due to overwhelming interest, the York County Conservation District added a morning shoot in addition to the afternoon shoot. Congratulations to York County Conservation District for another successful event!

Photo caption: The PACD team stops for a photo at Central Penn Sporting Clays in Wellsville, PA. They are (left to right): Amy Brown, George Miller, Chuck Wehinger, and Jay Braund (from PA Department of Environmental Protection).

Elk County Conservation District Holds AMD Tour

In August, the Elk County Conservation District held an acid mine drainage (AMD) educational workshop and site tour in Force, PA. Topics during the workshop included how AMD forms, how it is remediated, and an experiment for participants on to "Make their own AMD." A tour of a local site followed.

Photo caption: Eli Long from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy leads the Cherry Run AMD site tour. Photo provided by Elk County Conservation District.

Financial and other support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Dive Deeper Summit Held in Harrisburg and Virtually

Formal and non-formal educators convened in Harrisburg on September 23, 2021, for The Dive Deeper Summit. The summit gathers youth water educators in the Mid-Atlantic Region that pairs knowledge and resource sharing with networking opportunities. Attendees could participate in person or virtually this year.

Shannon Wehinger, PACD Director of Communications and Education, and conservation district staff attended the summit. The summit provided ample opportunities to experience hands-on activities to enhance water education.

Photo caption: (top left) PACD’s Shannon Wehinger; (top right) Penn State Extension’s Jennifer Fetter welcomes attendees; and (bottom) Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center’s Kristen Koch demonstrates a buffer model at the Dive Deeper 2021 conference.

Meet The New PA Envirothon Executive Director

Greg Bonsall has been hired to fill the position of PA Envirothon Executive Director. Greg brings more than 16 years of experience to the position.

Greg is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Resource Management (ERM) and minors in Biology and Watersheds & Water Resources. After college, he joined the Union County Conservation District as their Environmental Education Coordinator and Agricultural Conservation Technician. Most recently, Mr. Bonsall served as District Manager of the Lycoming County Conservation District.

During his time at the Union County Conservation District, he helped lead the Susquehanna Valley Envirothon and served as a PA Envirothon Board of Directors member. In addition, Greg has volunteered at the state competition every year since 2005.

We are excited to have Greg serve as Executive Director and look forward to watching him promote the program that invites students to “accept the natural challenge”!

Please join us in welcoming Greg! He can be reached at [email protected].