LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
SIX MILE RUN (Bedford Co.)
_ Bernard Hoffnar says he has
loved the Broad Top area since he
W as a child. His affection for this
coal mining area of Bedford
County has led him to winning the
Pennsylvania Conservation Pro
fessional of the Year award.
“I used to spend anywhere from
two to six weeks of every summer
here, with my mother,” he remem
bers. “I always knew I would
someday return. When I got the
chance, I did.” That was 20 years
ago. Since then, he has been
actively involved in preserving
and restoring the Broad Top area.
As a lover of the land, his philo
sophy is. “Anyone can use some
thing up. It takes a real steward to
make it better.”
Bernard is involved in a long
list of conservation projects.
He and his wife. Ingrid, and
son, Forrest, live on a 32-acre
farm where they raise Christmas
trees and market them locally.
They also raise all of their own
vegetables.
Five years ago, county commis
sioners asked Hoffnar to serve as
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Hoffnar Named State Conservation Professional
the first chairman of the reacti
vated solid waste authority. “I’m
proud of the accomplishments
we’ve had,” Hoffnar says. “Get
ting municipality support, meeting
DER requirements, dealing with
all the parts of solid waste and get
ting it in operation in 2 'A years
was an amazing accomplishment
DER has told us they wish other
counties could do as well.”
Hoffnar serves as the president
of the Coaldale/Six Mile Run
Area Water Corporation. A non
profit group, Hoffnar calls him
self, “the chief cook and bottle
washer.”
“It is a recognized system and
one of the best in the state,” Hoff
nar explains. “Broad Top has
worked very hard to achieve this.
We almost always have 100%
attendance at our meetings.”
It was one of the early slow
sand filtration systems in the state.
It meets all state and federal
requirements for potable water.
“We’ve kept it simple,” Hoffnar
continues. “It’s a low tech system
that basically anyone can operate.
As secretary/treasurer of the
Bedford County Conservation
District, Hoffnar says, “Our board
is one of, if not the strongest con
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servation boards in the entire
state.”
“We’re involved with RAMP
(rural abandoned mine program),
cleaning the streams, newspaper
recylcing, and a no till program.
The people on the conservation
board are extremely dedicated.”
An outgrowth from this office
has been involvement with the
Pennsylvania Conservation Dis
trict and the Land Use Planning
Commission.
Hoffnar was appointed by
Senator Robert Jubelirer as a
member of the C.A.C. (Citizens
Advisory Council to DER) where
he serves as vice president Three
state government leaders choose
six members for this council. It is
strictly non-political.
An advisory/education group
which does some lobbying,
C.A.C. looks at such as issues as a
plan for spreading manure, the
Clean Air Act, the Environmental
Education Bill, and, is concerned
with state wide environmental
issues.
They review state parks and
state forests and have access to
DER information.
Hoffnar also serves on the
Environmental Quality Board
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 22, 1992-Al9
Bernard Hoffnar, Conservation Professional of the Year,
points to one of the water supplies in the Broadtop area
where he has been actively involved In conservation for 20
years.
which is composed of the game
commission, fish commission,
and four legislatures. They deal
with residual and hazardous waste
regulations.
The goal of the Western Penn
sylvania Coalition is to keep
RAMP funded. Through this, Ber
nard became active in SMCRA
(Surface Mining Control and Re
clamation Act).
Hoffnar is presently serving his
04 0571 597
third team as a Broadtop Town
ship Supervisor. He is secretary/
treasurer and handles the books
and business for the supervisors.
Growing up on a 160-acre farm
in Southern Illinois with a five
sow hog enterprise, and 400 to
1000 haying hens, Hoffnar still
shudders as he remembers fanners
who bragged about the farms they
had “used”.
“The main crops were caster
beans and timothy which were
rotated. When the soil stopped
producing, they moved on to
another farm. Even then, I didn’t
think that was right”
“Now, I know, agriculture
should mean, leaving the land bet
ter than you found it”
For the future, Hoffnar hopes to
be involved in a process using
wetlands to mitigate as much of
acid mine drainage as possible.
There are four streams in the
Broadtop area and, according to
Hoffnar, the acidity of these
streams is near vinegar.
He also plans to be involved in
improving the water quality in
Bedford, Fulton, and Somerset
counties and, to woik on a sewage
project in the Broadtop.
“I will always work to protect
water quality,” he says. "I don’t
want to just preserve it. I want to
improve it”
Hoffnar has a bachelor of sci
ence in agriculture from Southern
Illinois and a master’s in agricul
ture economics from Penn State.
He also has a Ph.D. in agriculture
economics.
Prior to moving to Broadtop,
Hoffnar taught at VPI for three
years. He spent five years in
research service with the Depart-
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