Conservation District’s bus tour makes a case for continued PA, US funding | State

An annual tradition for the Indiana County Conservation District, its legislative bus tour, was conducted Friday and took some 30 participants to projects throughout rural areas of Indiana County.

“We do this every year about this same time in August,” ICCD Executive Director Douglas M. Beri Jr. said. “Our goal is to showcase to our elected officials and partners the different types of projects the Conservation District implements.”

Given budget cuts in Washington and a continued budget stalemate in Pennsylvania, there was plenty of reasons for ICCD to raise concerns, and plenty of ears on hand among those participants in the bus tour.

Beri said Indiana County Commissioner Bonni S. Dunlap was on the trip as were staffers for state Rep. Jim Struzzi, R-Indiana; U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters Township, and Glenn Thompson, R-Howard; and U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh.

“I did bring up a few legislative things,” the ICCD director said, in the hope that funding is maintained in current bills before Congress and the General Assembly.

He also anticipated that the Senate and House in Washington will put money back in final appropriation bills.

The tour began at the Waterworks Conservation Area, four miles outside of downtown Indiana.

First stop was an abandoned mine along Two Lick Creek directly downstream of the Two Lick Reservoir. ICCD sponsored construction of a new passive treatment system, completed last October, to deal with discharge from the abandoned Luzerne 3A mine.

There also was discussion, and stops at, Dirt, Gravel & Low Volume Roads or DGLVR maintenance programs along Stitt Road and Alder Road, both in Green Township.

Every year, ICCD said, it works with public road owners through DGLVR maintenance, for which Indiana County gets approximately $700,000 out of $28 million distributed annually for rural road improvements across the Keystone State.

The district says its goal is to not only improve local infrastructure, but also reduce roadway impacts on natural resources, something also done through Penn State Extension’s Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program.

ACAP aids landowners to protect and enhance water quality, by providing critical financial and technical assistance for implementing best management practices. Those on the tour went to the Barry Pugh and Ron Davis ACAP projects, also in Green Township.

A farm-to-table experience capped the tour as the Lone Oak Farm in the Marion Center area catered lunch for the tour’s participants.