A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 28, 2001
Award
Winners
(Continued from Page A 1)
tices that ensure the agricultural
viability of the land and the
health of nearby waterways. The
Buchers are actively involved
with public and private organ
izations in conservation educa
tion, water quality monitoring,
and streamside improvement
projects.
• Watershed Protection
Award Swatara Creek
Watershed Association.
Founded in 1970, the Swatara
Creek Watershed Association
monitors water quality along the
Swatara Creek and its six major
tributaries in Lebanon, Berks,
Dauphin, and Schuylkill coun
ties. The association has worked
with various state, federal, and
local agencies on many stream
and wetland restoration and
awareness projects, including an
annual two-day canoe and river
cleanup. They have also devel
oped a Swatara Creek Rivers
Conservation Plan, a longterm
management approach for the
watershed.
• Special Conservation Ser
vice Award Harry Meyer, Al
legheny County. Meyer serves as
an associate director with the
Washington, Beaver, Lawrence,
and Westmoreland county con
servation districts, and has
worked with many conservation
districts since 1955. Now retired,
Meyer was an employee of vari
ous state agencies for 32 years
and worked with landowners
and conservation districts
throughout western Pennsylva
nia in erosion and sediment con
trol, land reclamation, and
groundwater preservation pro
grams. Meyer lives on a farm in
McDonald, Washington
County, where he was born and
continues to operate its orchard.
• Ann Rudd Saxman Conser
vation Volunteer Award W.
Ray Ketner, Berks County. A
lifelong resident of Berks
County, Ketner is chair of the
Berks Conservation District
Board and a retiree of the Penn
sylvania Game Commission. He
is an active participant in state
and national conservation dis
trict association events and
helps to coordinate local district
programs such as the Don Hart
man Conservation Leadership
School, the county Envirothon,
and the annual seedling sale.
Ketner is a retired Army major
who served in the Battle of Nor
mandy during World War 11.
• Conservation Organization
of the Year Award Broken
straw Fish and Game Club,
Warren County. The club works
with public and private agencies
throughout the year in conserva
tion education and hunting
safety programs. The club also
conducts the Warren County
Youth Conservation Camp, a
three-day camp for boys and
girls between the ages of 12-14.
Participants learn about wildlife
and aquatic ecosystems, water
quality, hunting and boating
safety, and astronomy.
• Media Conservation Award
Grant Heilman Photography,
Lancaster County. For more
than 25 years, Grant Heilman
Photography has worked with
the Lancaster Conservation Dis
trict, providing stock and
custom photography. Recently,
the firm assisted in the district’s
watershed awareness campaign
and in capturing images for soil
stewardship and farm coopera
tor awards. The firm’s presi
dent, Sonia Wasco, has donated
hundreds of volunteer hours as
an associate director with the
district as and co-director of the
Lancaster County Youth Con
servation School. Grant Heil
man Photography is recognized
nationally as a premier firm in
agricultural, natural science,
horticulture and wildlife pho
tography.
• Conservation Educator of
the Year Award James A.
Edwards, Bucks County. Ed
wards is an environmental stud
ies and biology teacher at
Neshaminy High School in
Langhorne an adviser to the
school’s Environmental Action
Club. Edwards and his students
have participated in Earth
Week programs, recycling proj
ects, habitat activities, water
quality monitoring, and stream
bank stabilization projects at
local environmental centers and
within their community.
• M.K. Goddard Forest Re
source Management Award
Robert Long, Cambria County.
Robert Long and his family op
erate George Long and Sons
Lumber Company in Patton,
Cambria County. As a profes
sional forester, Long prepared
and implemented a manage
ment plan, enhancing wildlife
habitat and the wa(er quality of
nearby waterways. The woodlot
contains broad ecological diver
sity which the Long’s share with
their community; most of their
properties are open for public
use.
• William Lange Urban Con
servation Award R. Jeanne
Sonntag, Lancaster County.
Sonntag is a former Lancaster
Conservation District public di
rector and worked with the dis
trict for more than nine years.
She also served as chairman oi
the Lancaster County Planning
Commission Water Resource
Task Force. Among her other
achievements, Sonntag was in
strumental in raising funds for
the Shuts Environmental Center
in Lancaster and for initiating a
yearly legislative breakfast tour
between elected officials and
state and local conservation dis
trict representatives.
• Legislator Recognition
Award Gary Haluska, Cam
bria County. Haluska has been
an invaluable advocate for the
Cambria Conservation District.
He has helped to secure funding
for district programs, such as
those which address acid mine
drainage and other point
sources of pollution in local
waterways, and in preserving
recreational opportunities with
out compromising the environ
ment. Haluska is also a
dedicated community volunteer,
working with local firefighter
associations, sports booster or
ganizations, and tourism initia
tives.
• Erosion and Sedimentation
Pollution Control Award
RNS Services, Cambria County.
RNS mines, transports, and re
cycles coal refuse and fly ash.
They have been involved with
numerous abandoned mine rec
lamation projects in Cambria,
Indiana and Somerset counties.
RNS has worked with the Cam
bria Conservation District and
local farmers, using fly ash as a
soil substitute in barnyards and
feedlots to help prevent nutrient
and sediment runoff into nearby
waterways. RNS also works
with local organizations in other
abandoned mine drain abate
ment and wetlands restoration
initiatives.
• Annual Report of the Year
Award Adams County Con
servation District. This award is
presented to the conservation
district that submits the most in
formative, concise, readable,
and attractive annual report.
Each district’s annual report is
judged by representatives of the
State Conservation Commis
sion, Department of Environ
mental Protection, Natural
Resource Conservation Service,
and the PACD. Second place
was awarded to the Berks Con
servation District. Snyder Con
servation District captured third
place.
• County Commissioner Dis
trict Director of the Year Award
Randy Degenkolb, Indiana
County. This award, which will
be presented at the annual meet
ing of the Pennsylvania Associa
tion of County Commissioners,
is given to a county commis
sioner member of a conservation
district board who has made an
outstanding contribution to the
advancement of conservation
districts at the local, state, and
national levels.
Each year, PACD also hosts a
poster contest for school chil
dren in grades K-12. The PACD
Auxiliary sponsors the poster
contest. The winning entries are
sent to the National Association
of Conservation Districts’ poster
contest forjudging on a national
level. This year’s winners are:
Brigid Duggan, Cumberland
County, kindergarten to first
grade division; Melina Webb,
Bradford County, second to
third grade division; Felicha
Koscheck, Greene County,
fourth to sixth grade division;
James Lincke, Delaware
County, seventh to ninth grade
division; and Anna Spoor, Dela
ware County, 10th to 12th grade
division.
The PACD Auxiliary also
presented its annual scholarship
award to Sean C. Sweeney of
Newmanstown, Lebanon
County. Sean is a student at
Penn State University, majoring
in agriculture and bioengineer
ing.
For more information on the
awards, visit PACD’s Website at
http://www.pacd.org.
Farmers Honored With
Clean Water Farm Award
DEP and the Pennsylvania
Association of Conservation
Districts Inc. (PACD) are hon
oring two farms in the Chesa
peake Bay -watershed that have
excelled in water-quality protec
tion.
“These awards celebrate our
farmers who are at the forefront
in pursuing better farm
management practices and
working hard to protect local
stream, groundwater and soil re
sources,” DEP Secretary David
E. Hess said. “Good stewards
make good neighbors, and our
BUY,
SELL,
TRADE
OR
RENT
THROUGH
THE
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Lancaster
Farming 1
neighbors downstream in the
Chesapeake Bay appreciate
their efforts.”
The Pennsylvania Chesa
peake Bay Clean Water Farm
Awards highlight the positive
practices farmers are using in
the watershed to help protect
water quality, and to spread the
word to other farmers about the
benefits of water-quality protec
tion.
“The efforts of these farmers
complement Gov. Tom Ridge’s
‘Growing Greener’ program by
helping to protect and restore
waterways that are part of
larger watersheds,” Hess said.
The award recipients are from
Lebanon and Luzerne counties.
They were recognized at the
PACD annual Conservation
Awards Program in State Col
lege, Centre County.
Farmers must meet criteria
regarding soil testing, manure
testing, nutrient management,
pesticide management and con
servation practices. They are
nominated by county conserva
tion districts.
Farmers who demonstrate
outstanding farm management
receive a large “Clean Water
Farm Award” sign to erect on
their property, demonstrating
their commitment to protecting
local and Chesapeake Bay water
quality.
Recipients are:
• Lebanon County Charles
and Marlene Bomgardner of
North Annville Township. The
Bomgardners manage 177 acres
of cropland, and an additional
two acres of pasture on their
Lebanon County farm. Crops
produced include corn, alfalfa,
soybeans, wheat and barley.
They also raise hogs (300) and
replacement heifers (50).
The Bomgardner Farm is pre
served under the Lebanon
County Agricultural Land Pres
ervation Program. As part of the
program requirements, the
Bomgardners implement a soil
conservation plan that calls for
conservation practices, includ
ing contour strip cropping, mini
mum tillage, no-till corn
farming, cover cropping and
grass waterways.
In addition to the plan re
quirements, the Bomgardners
have voluntarily taken measures
to help protect water quality.
They have fenced off a spring
near their farm’s exercise lot
and allowed the area to grow
into a vegetated buffer and sta
bilized a walkway built above
the spring to help prevent water
contamination. The Bom
gardners also chose to adopt an
Act 6 nutrient-management
plan for their farm, although
their farm is not considered a
Concentrated Animal Operation
(CAO), and is not required to
have a nutrient-management
plan; and
• Luzerne County Mark
Verbyla of Sweet Valley Ver
byla manages a 120-acre dairy
farm with 65 Holstein cows and
SS replacement animals. He also
grows silage, oats and hay.
The headwaters of Hunting
ton Creek flow directly through
the Verbyla Farm, and, in recent
years, significant steps have
been taken to improve water
quality in the creek. In 1997,
Verbyla voluntarily developed a
nutrient-management plan. The
plan is followed to ensure the
proper applications and use of
manure and waste nutrients,
and has drastically improved
the quality of Huntington Creek,
as well as Verbyla’s farming op
erations.
“The nutrient-management
plan has made a 100 percent im
provement on the well-being of
the cows and the health of the
stream running through the
farm,” Verbyla said. “Basically,
the plan has changed the whole
appearance of the farm. The
cows aren’t in the mud anymore,
the water is protected by a buffer
zone, and the farm just looks
better.”
The farm features two dairy
cattle exercise lots, between the
bam and Huntington Creek. A
buffer strip has been installed
between the lots and the creek to
filter any excess nutrients that
may leave the lot. Verbyla also
has installed roof runoff-control
devices to divert clean water
away from the exercise lots. He
has installed additional water
control structures and con
structed a stone-centered
walkway to carry water to the
filter area.
Another device critical to pro
tecting water quality is the
farm’s milkhouse waste system
that collects water used for dairy
farm procedures and discharges
it into a manure spreader to be
spread onto the fields.