From the District Manager:

It is with pleasure that we report the Wyoming County Conservation District’s (WCCD) activities and accomplishments in 2004.

To highlight several important accomplishments, WCCD staff was able to bring $935,757 in state and federal funding to our County for the following conservation programs:

·        Assessment of the Tunkhannock Creek and Bowman’s Creek and restoration of severe erosion sites to reduce sediment pollution in those watersheds is underway

·        Dirt and Gravel Road Pollution Prevention Program to upgrade environmentally sensitive dirt and gravel roads in our townships to reduce sediment pollution to county waterways

·        Chesapeake Bay Program and Growing Greener cost share funding available to qualified agricultural operations for implementation of best management practices to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution to our waterways

Not only does the conservation district strive to bring grant monies to the county to fund these important environmental programs, we also strive to educate our county’s residents, businesses, and policy makers, about conservation issues and practices that will help preserve our natural resources.  More details on all of our programs and activities are described in this report.

The planning, funding and implementation of the programs that we bring to Wyoming County would not be possible without the expertise of our technicians and staff, the cooperation and support  of our partnering agencies, our conservation district board members, and county commissioners.

We thank you all for your support.  We will strive to meet Wyoming County’s conservation needs now and into the future.

Charlotte M. Severcool

District Manager

WYOMING COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT

2004 ANNUAL REPORT


WYOMING COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Anthony Litwin

Judy Kraft-Mead

J. Stark Bartron II

WYOMING COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Robert Robinson-Chairman

Harold Grow-Vice Chairman

S. Milton Tague-Treasurer

Commissioner J. Stark Bartron

Victor Cappucci

Dorne White

Bob Herman

ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
Butch Sands     Angelo Sabbatini      Jim Luce      Ray Kuzma

STAFF

Shane Kleiner & Charlotte Severcool – Manager

Ed Zygmunt-Chesapeake Bay,Nutrient Management Tech.

Doug Deutsch-Resource Conservation Specialist

Katina Brown-Environmental Education Coordinator

Cathy Hilscher-Watershed Specialist,Dirt & Gravel Roads

Carol Owens-Resource Planner

Jullee Chamberlain-Administrative Assistant

NRCS STAFF

Ed Patchcoski-District Conservationist

Kevin Rohe-Engineering Technician

FSA STAFF

Chuck Perkins-County Executive Director

Jan Ambrutis-Program Technician

Tammy Finan-Program Technician

DEP REGIONAL OFFICE FIELD STAFF

Karl Dymond-Conservation District Field Rep.

Peter Tarby-Chesapeake Bay Field Rep.

Wyoming County Conservation District

The Wyoming County Conservation District is a legal subdivision of state government responsible for the coordination of conservation activities within the County.  The County Commissioners established the District on August 15, 1949 under the provisions of Act 217, "State Soil and Water Conservation District Law", and by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

The District sets conservation goals and objectives on a yearly basis.  It works, in cooperation with many local, state and federal agencies, to see that those goals become a reality throughout the County.  Some of these cooperating agencies are the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environmental Protection, the State Conservation Commission, the Game Commission, the Fish and Boat Commission, the Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) and the Department of Transportation.  Some of the local agencies the District works with are Community Planning, Wyoming County Commissioners, Department of Emergency Planning, Emergency Management, watershed organizations and school districts. 

The following is a summary of the activities involving the Wyoming County Conservation District during 2004.  This report also includes brief summaries from various cooperating agencies outlining their programs as conducted in 2004.

VISION STATEMENT

To be the local contact for meeting the needs of the public pertaining to the conservation of soil, water and related resources by providing the best service we can in partnership with communities, agencies, organizations and individuals.

MISSION STATEMENT

The Wyoming County Conservation District strives to maintain, improve and sustain the natural resources of Wyoming County while promoting conservation based on education, planning, cooperation and involvement of all citizens of the County.

District Manager Shane Kleiner resigned his position on September 2, 2004 to accept a position with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.  Many new programs and projects were accomplished during Shane’s ten years with the District.  Charlotte Severcool was selected to be District Manager based partly on her extensive experience in agricultural finance.  Charlotte grew up on a beef cattle farm in York County and graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Agricultural Business Management.

DISTRICT OPERATIONS

The Conservation District operates under the mission and vision statements set forth by the District’s Board of Directors.  The volunteer seven member board creates the policy by which the District operates.  The board members are recommended by nominating organizations and appointed by the County Commissioners.  The policy guides the District manager in the oversight of the day to day activities of the District.  The District is able to serve the residents of Wyoming County by aiding in the conservation of our natural resources through delegation agreements and contracts between Federal, State and Local entities, both public and private, to meet the goals described in the Annual plan of work, strategic plan and the long range plan.

Financial support for District programs comes from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Bureau of Watershed Management, State Conservation Commission, Wyoming and Sullivan County Commissioners, Tunkhannock Area School District, grants and fundraising programs.

Grants and Appropriations:

The Conservation District was able to obtain numerous grants this year to assist us in meeting some of the needs of our county residents.  Four of these grants include Well Water Testing, Stream Bank Assessment, US Fish and Wildlife – appropriated by Congressman Don Sherwood, and an additional Dirt and Gravel Roads Grant made possible through the state’s Growing Greener Grants Program.

Well Water Testing Grant: This grant, in the amount of $25,354 was obtained in 2003 and was completed this year.  It allowed the District to supply over 500 county residents with well and spring water tests to obtain some baseline water quality data for Wyoming County.  Residents received free water testing for the parameters of Lead, total Coliform, Hardness, PH and Nitrates.  The tests were performed by the Kirby Health Center in Wilkes-Barre at a reduced price.  The results of these tests were provided to the participants along with information sheets explaining any water problems.  There were also three education seminars put on by the Penn State Extension office to educate residents about how to keep their drinking water safe.  A GIS program has been developed from the results to assist us in seeing where some of the concern areas may be in the county as it relates to water quality.

Stream Bank Assessment Grant: This grant, in the amount of $52,075 was obtained in 2003 to gather information on the quality and stability of Wyoming County’s streams and their connecting watersheds.  Interns were hired to collect data by GPS and using protocol set forth by the NRCS visual stream assessment protocol standards.  Data was collected and then compiled in a written document with supporting data and GIS mapping.  The completed documents are being made available to interested watershed associations and cooperating agencies.  All of the major watersheds in Wyoming County have been completed.  The information is also being used to support work being done on the Tunkhannock and Bowman’s Creek watersheds.

Growing Greener Grant: This grant was received last year in the amount of $75,000.00 to expand our county effort in addressing water pollution from Township Dirt and Gravel Roads around the county.  The funds will be used to implement environmentally sensitive practices on Dirt and Gravel Roads to reduce pollutants from entering the waters of the Commonwealth.  The program will follow the already established criteria of the State Conservation Commissions Dirt and Gravel Roads Program.

Tunkhannock and Bowman's Creek

Assessment and Restoration Project: In early March 2004, money was appropriated by Congressman Don Sherwood in the amount of $750,000 through the US Fish and Wildlife Service to do assessment and restoration in the Tunkhannock and Bowman’s Creek Watersheds.  The Wyoming County Conservation District was given the responsibilities of administering the grant.  We also work closely with Susquehanna, Lackawanna, and Luzerne County Conservation Districts to promote and implement watershed restoration activities in their counties.  Twelve interns were hired to do the assessment work.  They looked at riparian buffers, presence of invasive species, forest composition and may other parameters.  Progress made thus far has amounted to assessing the streams in the Tunkhannock and Bowman’s Creek watersheds, identifying the priority sites in these watersheds and now ranking these priority sites using the SVAP (Stream Visual Assessment Protocol).  Some priority sites will require and additional site visits due to ranking criteria.

Interns

2004 District Hosted Events

Part 2