Ray Furda - Conservation Farmer of the Year

The Washington County Conservation District Board of Directors this week recognized six individuals, organizations and a retiring director during their annual conservation awards luncheon.

Conservation Farmer of the Year: Ray Furda: Mr. Furda, who is in his 80’s and has farmed all of his life, owns and operates a 285 acre beef and horse farm in Somerset Township, Washington County, and has been a conservation cooperator since October 17, 1949.

The farm is extremely well kept and is located across from a popular public golf course. Mr. Furda installed a variety of conservation practices, including stream bank fencing, spring developments, tree planting, livestock crossings, warm season grasses, and a rotational grazing system.

Mr. Furda also uses a low impact method of farming to constantly maintain an excellent vegetative cover on all of his pastures, planting and harvesting only hay. This low impact method of farming greatly decreases erosion rates, sediment runoff while increasing wildlife habitat.

He participates in all of the available conservation programs through the Farm Service Agency and NRCS, including CREP, WHIP and EQIP.

Video Blog: Mr. Furda Comments on Winning the Award

Conservation Educator: Sheila Burcin. She is the former Director of the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office who was one of the four original individuals that formed the Washington County Watershed Alliance and has served as an officer of that county wide organization since the Alliance’s first days.

Sheila was also a major organizer of the Chartiers Creek Watershed Association, which recently completed a Rivers Conservation Plan and other projects.

She also serves on the Steering Committee and is one of the original organizers of the Children’s Groundwater Festival in Washington County. In addition to helping to obtain funding for the Festival, she organizes the schedule for the presenters and instructors.

Video Blog: Shelia Burcin Talks About Environmental Education/Watershed Work

Conservation Volunteer: Debra Valentino:Debra and several of her neighbors came to the Conservation District over five years ago asking for help to save Canonsburg Lake. She organized the Save Canonsburg Lake Committee and has hosted many meetings at her home and at her expense for legislators, Turnpike Commission Officials, and Fish and Boat Commission representatives including the Executive Director.

Debra has been the leader in working with the District to obtain the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant to prepare the Recreational Site Master Plan for Canonsburg Lake and is the Project Manager.

Recently, Congressman Tim Murphy secured a $250,000 award for the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare a Section 206 Habitat Restoration Study for Canonsburg Lake due to Debra’s efforts.

If Canonsburg Lake gets restored it will be primarily due to Debra’s determined and endless hard work and she has done all of this while still working full time for the U.S. Postal Service.

Video Blog: Debra Valentino Talks About the Value of Volunteer Work

Conservation Organization: Vicky Michaels and the Independence Marsh Foundation: Vicky and the Independence Marsh Foundation have been an irreplaceable asset to the conservation district. If it were not for Vicky and her Marsh Foundation the JB#2 Abandoned Mine Treatment Facility would not exist. They volunteered to accept the land donation from the Sasso Estate when no one else would step up to the plate. This allowed the District to build the treatment system.

They have continued to assist the District with the maintenance and repair not only of the JB#2 system, but also the other two systems the District and the Raccoon Creek Watershed Association maintain. Vicky has provided the construction site supervision for both the Hamilton AMD project and the JB#2 AMD project including the present emergency repair efforts.

Vicky and her Independence Marsh Foundation have also applied for and received grants to improve the environmental study center at the Burgettstown School District campus and assisted with the Children’s Groundwater Festival.

The Marsh Foundation has helped many communities with used tire cleanups using their tire sheer to cut the tires up and pack them into dumpsters to be taken to landfills. The latest tire collection was held in Hanover Township, Washington County.

Video Blog: Vicki Michaels on the Independence Marsh Foundation.

Conservation Consulting Firm: Biomost and Kyle Durrett: Biomost is the Consulting Firm that completed the District’s study and report on the Raccoon Creek Restoration Project that was funded by Growing Greener. The original intent of the grant was to study the Erie Mine discharge and Plum Run discharge in Burgettstown and make recommendations for how to attempt to treat these discharges.

Kyle Durrett and Biomost looked imaginatively beyond the strict scope of the study and studied the various mine pools involved and how the pools interacted with one another. Kyle and Biomost also worked with Bruce Leavitt, an independent Geologist and Engineer that was looking at the interaction of mine pools through a grant from West Virginia University.

As a result of this detailed work, the Biomost team - Margaret Dunn, Tim Danehy, Shaun Busler and Cliff Denholm-- were able to propose a reclamation plan called “ELF.”

This system would collect five major mine pools in the Burgettstown area and treat close to 2,000 gallons per minute of contaminated mine water and return it to Raccoon Creek minus most of the contaminates cleaning up almost all of the major discharges in the Raccoon Creek watershed.

Biomost and Stream Restoration Inc. are now working with the District to seek grants to implement the findings in this study.

Video Blog: Kyle Durrett Talks About the ELF Project, Interest in Environment

Director Service Award: Richard Lehman: Dick Lehman, who has been a District Director since 1999, is leaving the Board of Directors at the end of 2006.

Mr. Lehman has represented the Washington County Farm Bureau and the Washington County Cattlemen’s Association on the District Board and has been one of the most active Directors in the entire history of the district.

He has chaired the Dirt and Gravel Road Quality Assurance Board for eight years and has been our regional representative to the Ohio Basin Commission. Under his leadership, the District has completed over $500,000 in Dirt and Gravel Road Projects.

He also led the effort to prevent the U.S.D.A. offices from moving away from the city of Washington and merge the Washington and Greene County Farm Service Agency County Committees.

In his own watershed, Mr. Lehman helped organize the Cross Creek Watershed Association. Through his leadership as chairman the Association, they completed a Watershed Assessment, Restoration and Protection Plan.

Recently the Association obtained a grant, and with the help of the Avella Boy Scout Troop, completed a bridge crossing to extend the nature trail adjacent to the Avella High School. The Association has also installed a nature center at the Cross Creek Township Senior Citizens Center and plans to assist the township to develop the first municipal park in Cross Creek Township.

Mr. Lehman has also worked between the Watershed Association and the Conservation District to obtain Growing Greener Grants to install streambank fencing, warm season grasses, and rotational grazing systems in the head waters of the Cross Creek watershed.

“Dick’s enthusiasm, leadership, reliability, intelligence, and extra effort will be greatly missed,” said District Executive Director Gary Stokum.

Video Blog: Dick Lehman Highlights District, Watershed Work

For more information, contact the Washington County Conservation District by sending email to: washcocd@yahoo.com or calling 724-228-6774.

Photo Feature: Washington Conservation District 2006 Conservation Award Winners

12/15/2006