Individuals, Families Lauded By Conservation District
HEBRON (Lebanon Co.)
The Lebanon County Conserva
tion District recognized four indi
viduals and two families for their
outstanding efforts of conserva
tion in Lebanon County at their
annual planning meeting and
awards banquet held Wednesday
at the Hebron Fire Hall, Hebron.
Special guests, volunteers, and
award winners were invited to
celebrate in the conservation dis
trict’s 54 years of accomplish
ments.
During the banquet, special
recognition was awarded to a
conservation farmer, a conserva
tion volunteer, a conservation ed
ucator, conservation steward
families from Bethel and Mill
creek townships, and a long time
conservation district employee.
Jeffrey Werner is recognized
for his efforts in soil and water
conservation on the 356 acres he
farms from his home in Swatara
Township. He was awarded The
Chesapeake Bay Clean Water
Farm Award. Jeff first became
cooperator with the Lebanon
County Conservation District in
1965 with his father and has con
tinued the family tradition of
conservation farming. Jeff main
tains a flock of 33,000 turkeys
and grows com, soybeans, and
wheat. He reduces soil erosion
from this farmland by imple
menting a conservation district
approved soil and water conser
vation plan involving cover crop
ping, minimum tillage and no-till
farming, contour strip-cropping,
and crop rotation. Jeff is also
conscientious of reducing nutri
ent runoff from his fields and vol
untarily implements an Act 6 nu
trient management plan.
Frederick T. Heilman of Leba
non is the 2003 Lebanon County
Conservationist of the Year for at
least a quarter century of conser
vation volunteerism. A native of
Lebanon, Heilman has worked
behind the scenes to deepen the
understanding of the varied natu
ral resources of Lebanon County.
An active member of the Quit
tapahilla Audubon Society since
at least 1982, “Fritz,” as he is re
ferenced by friends, has served
the organization in almost every
capacity, including president,
vice president, board of directors,
newsletter editor, and program
and field trip chairman. More im
portantly, he has served as a de
voted teacher of nature to others
while serving in all these capaci
ties. Over the years Heilman has
served as a coordinator in Audu
bon’s Christmas Bird
Count and spring
Birdathon where the
most scientifically
vital and up-to-date
bird population, mi
gration, health and
nesting records for
Lebanon County are
obtained. These pro
grams have reached
thousands of Lebanon
County school chil
dren and adults. Quit
tapahilla’s own schol-
arship program to
send children and
adults to ecology camp
has been a financial
benefactor of Fritz’s
generosity.
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Initiatives at the Stoever’s
Dam Nature Bam have benefited
from his tireless efforts including,
event coordination and particia
tion, display development, and
educational offerings including
astronomy programs to name a
few. Additionally, Fritz has
served on the steering committee
that planned and developed the
Memorial Arboretum at Stoever’s
Dam. Heilman served on the City
of Lebanon Shade Tree Commis
sion to help his community
promote the importance of a
healthy urban forest and has
planted his urban property in a
manner conducive to environ
mental stewardship as an exam
ple for his neighbors.
Fritz has been instrumental in
promoting environmental stew
ardship at his place of employ
ment, Bayer Corporation. As a
member of Bayer’s Earth Day
Committee he has promoted tree
planting through the Lebanon
Cosnervation District’s annual
sale, helped institute a bluebird
trail and provides for its monitor
ing, and coordinated their Adopt
a-highway program.
Dawn R. Connelly, a fourth
grade teacher at Southeast Ele
mentary School in the Lebanon
School District was awarded the
District’s Conservation Educator
of the Year award. A resident of
Lebanon, Dawn serves as the Ele
mentary Science Coordinator for
the school district. Projects often
involve the entire student body
and parent volunteers. For in
stance, Campbell’s Soups labels
have been collected and recycled
for over 9 years while the Ronald
McDonald House in Hershey has
benefited from student recycling
of beverage tabs. Come Earth
Day, students in grades 1
through 5 are on the school
grounds and surrounding neigh
borhood collecting litter. These
initiatives are ongoing with the
fourth grade and student council.
As a student council advisor
Dawn has helped students beau
tify the school yard. Dawn has
helped enact an environmental
day each year for the past 5 years
for third through fifth graders to
encourage environmental aware
ness. During this day the stu
dents do a stream study, a forest
ry station, a clean-up station and
many learning activities. Over
300 students have benefited from
this experience.
Connelly has been an active
participant with a committee of
multiple partners to help develop
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Award winners from Lebanon Co. Conservation District Banquet were from left: front
Ed Ludwig, Darlene Ludwig, Tamra Ludwig, Michael Ludwig, Eve Manbeck; rear
Jeffrey Werner, Frederick T. Heilman, Connie Hoffer, Leigh Beamesderfer, Dawn R.
Connelly, Andrew Whitehiil, Barbara Bauer.
the wetlands at the Lebanon
County Career and Technology
Center as an outdoor classroom
for all of Lebanon County’s stu
dents. She has incorporated wet
lands into her curriculum and
takes students on site visits to the
wetlands for environmental stud
ies.
Southeast Elementary School
as well as the Middle and High
Schools participate annually in
the Lebanon County Conserva
tion District’s three envirothons.
Connelly is the coordinator for
the entire School District for this
event. According to Connelly, “It
is very rewarding to see how in
volved these students and the
parents become in the topic each
year.”
The Manbeck Family, repre
sented by Barbara Bauer, Alletta
Schadler, Eve Manbeck and An
drew Whitehll of Fredericksburg
have been chosen to receive the
Conservation Landowner of the
Year award. The Manbecks own
and manage 301 acres of forest
and farmland in Bethel Town
ship. The property, known at one
time as Camp Carson, is approxi
mately 50% farmed while 50% is
managed forestland. Since 1977,
the Manbecks have taken an ac
tive role in managing their land
and were recently desig-
nated as forest stewards by
Bureau of Forestry, De
partment of Conservation
J*•» S • 1 w
and Natural Resources (DCNR).
The Manbecks began implement
big a 10-year forestry steward
ship plan 7 years ago that has in
cluded cutting firewood,
plantings such as red oak and
windrow shrubs using tree shel
ters to increase survival, brush
pile building and planting for
wildlife, control of invasive spe
cies, bird house installation and
grape vine control. Gravel has
been used to dress roads and a
pond spillway has been stablized.
Farmland is managed through a
combination of nutrient manage
ment, strip farming, diversion
and subsurface
tile drainage
that helps pro
tect soil and
water resources
from the forces
of erosion. Prop
erly managed
timber harvest
ing allows in
come from the
resource while
improving habi
tat to encourage
wildlife diversi
ty.
The first an-
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Steward of the Year Award was
presented to Arrowhead Springs
which is operated by the Ludwig
Family of Newmanstown and
represented by Michael, Tamara,
Edward, and Darlene Ludwig.
Arrowhead Springs is part of a
family business occupying 430
acres of which 330 acres are
woodland with the balance main
tained in grass felds, raceways,
and ponds. For decades, it has
been one of the premier recrea
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