A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 4, 1998
Tulpehocken Watershed Receives Conservation Funding
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
The only thing the program needs
from the farmer is a proposal that
describes the kind of work to be
done. After an inventory and eva
luation of each farm by the Natural
Resource Conservation Service, a
timetable for the conservation
practice implementation will be
set
Under the auspices of the prog
ram. farmers can take five years to
sign up and another five years to
implement the program, according
to Kim Fies, conservation special
ist with the Berks County Conser
vation District The Berks office
will act as a “clearinghouse” for
proposals under the PL 566 prog
ram. Fies will be the central con
tact person for the program.
“There are more than 300 farms
in the watershed that can benefit
from the program,” said Fies.
Groundwork on the PL 566
program began about two years
On the Tulpa-Canal farm owned by Floyd and Janice Mar*
tin and family near Womelsdorf, a crossing over the Tulpe*
hocken was Installed, together with stream bank fencing.
Here, Kim Fles Inspects the crossing.
year a clean water collection system, including six collec
tion boxes and 1,500 feet of pipe, was Installed at a cost of
ago, involving about 27 different
federal, state, and local agencies,
according to Charles Wertz of the
Lebanon district This project is
sponsored by the Berks County
Conservation District and Berks
County Conservancy.
A variety of different agencies
provided “multiple inputs” for the
program. The sponsors received
funding authorization approval in
February this year and have been
asked to seek landowners to sign
up.
In the past under programs of
this son, according to Fies, cost
sharing was in the amount of 65
percent But this program provides
a hefty 75 percent cost sharing.
An “assessment” of the program
was mailed at the beginning of
May to landowners in the Berks
and Lebanon County Tulpehocken
Watershed areas, with a self
addressed reply requested. The
responses, in some areas, have
*■
oi jrm were, from It , Kim Fles, conservation spe
cialist with the Berks County Conservation District; Richard Troutman, in back;
Heather Rodriguez, ecology major from Mlllersvllte University; and Charles W. Wertz,
district manager with the Lebanon County Conservation District.
been good. About 25 landowners soil erosion goal of 5,700 acres for jcct on hold. Wertz believes the
have responded with interest in the the program amounted to only park and turtle could co-exist with
waste management systems area, 4,755 acres as of last week. design and implementation of a
about 11 more than the goal of the In wetlands preservation, out of phu® made possible through the PL
program for the planned timef- a goal of 30 acres, only eight acres 56(5 project
rame. About 24 responded to inter- are in interest. k “Many farmers are accepting
est in the barnyard runoff prog- These goals have been set as the need for buffers and their
rams, twice more than planned for part of the federal program, impact on nutrient loads," accotd
the same timeframe. according to Wertz. ing to the district manager. “It is
However, for interest in the Wertz believes the program's 1101 costing (landowners) a lot
nutrient management systems part fish and wildlife habitat compo- They are not seeing real estate val
of the program, 4,500 acres was nents could help mitigate a diffi- ucs soing down the drain,” Many
the projected goal. As of early last cult situation in Jackson Town- of these programs will work to
week, only 4,213 acres were under ship, Lebanon County. Discovery abate sediment load in the Tulpe
requests from landowners. The 0 f a bog turtle has put a park pro- ( Turn to p, O» A2l)
I
On the Troutman farm, projects were installed to help manage nutrients, ensure
stream bank stability, stem soil erosion, and ultimately Improve herd health.
A farm contains a concrete agricultural crossing structure Installed over a stream,