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Op-Ed: Conservation District Week, Time To Reflect On The Real Economic, Environmental Benefits Of Districts

By Len Lichvar, District Manager, Somerset Conservation District

This is Conservation District Week in Pennsylvania. There are 66 conservation districts in the state and the Somerset Conservation District has been in existence since 1957.

The District provides ongoing leadership, technical and administrative assistance to other organizations and on the ground project implementation in natural resource conservation providing public benefits to every citizen in the county and the region.

Those benefits of improving and using our land and water resources properly are not always thought of in economic terms. The traditional economic engines are thought to be the ones that manufacture, distribute or grow products we then use and consume.

Yet the District, existing as a small independent and unique public entity, brought in $1,034,185.00 of direct economic impact spending into Somerset County in 2019.

A few of the ways that real dollars are generated and distributed include that the District purchases materials from vendors and pays contractors puts, and keeps people at work in order to implement District projects.

Just a few of these include erosion and sediment reduction oversight and streambank improvement projects, abandoned mine drainage (AMD) abatement projects, environmental education events and agricultural assistance programs.

The District’s Dirt and Gravel Road Program alone contributes several hundred thousand dollars a year that employs people to improve our rural roadways and transportation system and at the same time minimize stormwater runoff into local waterways, which is the actual goal of the program.

The District, through assisting farmers to secure funding from federal programs such as the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP) has enabled local producers to secure no-till drills and other management equipment and bring in $172,223.00 of state tax credits all aimed at improving our agriculture economic sustainability.

The District’s required responsibility to maintain multiple AMD passive treatment systems bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to sustain and improve the county’s water quality that is the foundation upon which the county and region’s booming eco-tourism industry is built on.

A study sponsored by the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce found that Somerset County residents pay $600.00 less a year in local taxes because of tourism generated revenue that did not exist only a few decades ago when our land was scarred and water impaired.

To further drive home the point, the District was part of a consortium of conservation organizations that oversaw the creation of the Valuing Clean Water Report that put together a data driven economic value of ecosystem services.

These services are benefits people receive from nature for free such as clean air, clean water and fertile soil that produce a real dollar input into the economy.

The report has determined that our regional waterways alone in the Laurel Highlands region, of which Somerset County sits in the middle of, contributes $3.7 billion dollars a year into the economy from ecosystem benefits.

Often inaccurate perception and misguided opinion, that conservation or environmental efforts and organizations slow or negatively impact economic growth or prosperity, is too often generally accepted.

The fact and reality, that can be backed up, clearly shows just the opposite is true.

In this time of uncertainty the Somerset Conservation District continues to be part of the solution by keeping our economy moving forward while at the same time assuring that our natural resources will continue to be viable enough to generate the ultimate source of where both our economic future and our quality of life originate from.

[Click Here to learn more about Conservation District Week from the PA Association Of Conservation Districts.]

(Photo: Conservation District staff and Trout Unlimited volunteers install stream improvement devices on a Class A Trout Stream in Somerset County.)

Len Lichvar is the District Manager of the Somerset Conservation District. Visit the Somerset Conservation District website for information on services available to farmers, landowners and the public or call 814-445-4652 Ext. 5.

[Editor’s Note: $172 Million Just Sitting There: The Senate and House are still sitting on a $172 million surplus in their own operating accounts, but they don’t seem ready to repurpose the money to help taxpayers and real people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here .

[Sacrifice is good… for other people in their view, apparently.

[Click Here to read more about "legislative privilege" and hiding how the General Assembly spends taxpayer money.]

[Editor’s Note: 3 Front War On The Environment: Conservative Republicans have been fighting a three front war on environmental programs and funding for the last decade in Pennsylvania--

-- Starving environmental agencies for funding so they have to cut staff and programs and then turn around and say they can’t do their job [they’ve successfully done that];

-- Adding even more layers of bureaucracy and procedures to block environmental regulations, reduce environmental standards and give regulated entities more control over these programs; and

-- Using every chance they get to cut funding to support community-based projects to protect and restore the environment, improve recreation opportunities and land conservation efforts that real people-- voters-- overwhelmingly support [they’ve successfully done that].

[So far the strategy is working.

[These are the latest attempts, but they won’t be the last.]

NewsClips:

Clinton County Offers Services For Conservation District Week

Elk County Conservation District Staff Works To Promote Community Outreach

Conservation District Week: Stabilization For PA’s Streams [Warren County]

Conservation District Week: Help People Understand, Appreciate The Environment [Warren County]

Warren County Conservation District: Its Role In Wise Land Use

Conservation District Week: Have A Do-It-Yourself Outdoor Project, Maybe The Conservation District Can Help [Warren County]

Related Articles - Budget:

May 3-9 County Conservation Districts Week Overshadowed By Lawmaker Efforts To Freeze, Shutdown Conservation District Funds

House Republicans Pass Bill To Freeze Funding For County Conservation Districts, Local Parks, Farm Conservation, Watershed Restoration Projects; Will Hurt Local Economies