Helping People Use Resources Wisely

Stable soils…clean streams…healthy forests…productive farms…sustainable communities.

For 60 years, the Westmoreland Conservation District has been promoting the thoughtful, wise use of the natural resources we all share. More About The District

60 Seconds for Conservation

The Westmoreland Conservation District has been working to protect our natural resources for 60 years.

You can make a difference in just 60 seconds.

Here’s one way….

BUY LOCAL.

With Farmers' Markets in full swing, you can fill your table with healthy food from local farms. Visit these links to learn more

http://www.localharvest.org

http://www.buylocalpa.org/

You also can get the advantages of "buying local" with other products and services, too.

When you support local providers, you keep jobs in our community, strengthen our local economy, retain our unique sense of place, and reduce the fuel use and pollution that comes with shipping items long distances.

The recent heavy rains and flooding washed out many gravel driveways and private roads.

Here are some tips to help with repairs…and to help prevent repeat problems in the future.

Know where the flow is coming from…and take the necessary steps to get the water off your driveway or road

If water is running down your driveway or road, you can add waterbars to help direct the water off the road and into the nearby terrain.  

These mini “speed bumps” can be made of a variety of materials, in a variety of shapes and sizes, and then placed in a variety of orientations, depending on your particular conditions.

If water is running across your driveway or road, you can reduce it by adding pipe, clean stone, and fabric in a trench under the driving surface. More...

Tech Corner

Municipal officials and engineers, please note:

Potential problems with

PLASTIC OUTFALL PIPE

During routine inspections, our Erosion Control Specialist Chris Droste uncovered what may be a widespread problem in sediment basins and detention ponds with plastic outfall pipes leaking.

When plastic pipe is installed in these particular applications,* contractors are not allowed to place backfill stone around the pipe, even though that would provide stability, because then the application would become a French drain (and that would create problems with water flowing outside the pipe).

Without backfill stone in basin and pond applications, the force of heavy rollers compacting the earth around plastic pipes sometimes causes the pipes to spread out horizontally, stressing the pipe joints to the point where they separate and allow water to seep into the earthen embankment around them.

More...

Money available for

Forest Management Plans, Practices

If your timber harvest is on hold, waiting for the economy to recover, why not use this time to develop a forest management plan for your woodlot?

A forest management plan can ultimately make your timber more valuable by improving the health and quality of

your woodlot, and insuring its long-term sustainability.

Our forester, Tony Quadro, can develop several kinds of plans for your site:

• a brief, forest management plan that provides general recommendations, based on a one-time visit to your site (this plan is free-of-charge), or
• a formal Forest Stewardship Plan, with more details and specific recommendations for your site (although there is a charge for this plan, money is available to cover the majority of its cost). MORE...

2008 Annual Report

now available –

Quick, easy-to-read synopses of the District’s

latest efforts to encourage good stewardship of Westmoreland County’s land, water, forests, farms, and communities.

Downloadable PDF

Please save this NEW Date –

Friday, September 11

That’s when we’ll be celebrating

60 years of conservation

with a very special

OPEN HOUSE

Please plan to join us!

Stop in to the District’s headquarters anytime on Friday, September 11 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

And enjoy:

• “Then and now” displays of farm equipment and conservation artifacts

• Illustrated timeline of local conservation history

• Light refreshments

During the Open House, we’ll also be moving the District’s 50th anniversary time capsule from its location outside the Donohoe Center building to its new, permanent home near our barn.

Westmoreland Conservation District

218 Donohoe Road

Act QUICKLY --

Money Available for nutrient management plans

Beef, dairy, swine, and poultry farmers as well as horse boarders, horse-barn owners, and stable managers can apply for new federal funds that will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

The money can be used for:

• a confidential on-site review of your land (done by one of the planners contracted under this program), and/or
• a detailed plan for managing your operation’s nutrients, including recommendations of the best-management practices most relevant to your particular operation.

If you are interested...DON'T DELAY!

Dan Griffith, our nutrient management specialist/agricultural conservation technician, can tell you more (dan@wcdpa.com or 724-837-5271).

You can also visit http://livestock.rti.org. To sign up, select the button on the left side of the page that says: Sign Up for Farm Assessment.

Attention Farmers –

If you are interested in making air-quality improvements on your farm, the EQIP program has funding available.

Incentive payments and cost-share monies are available for a number of practices and activities, including:

• No- and mulch-till
• Manure separators and abatement
• Composting facilities
• Windbreak establishment around livestock and poultry facilties.

This program has periodic cutoff dates, so don’t delay.

For more information, contact Dan Griffith, dan@wcdpa.com, 724-837-5271.