Kevin Brown, BCCD, Ag Resource Specialist
(Spoiler Alert- I just had to get this in here, just in case I lose you before you get to the end of the next article.  Do you know that rock salt is almost completely ineffective below 15 degrees?  And it uses cyanide as an anti-caking agent.  Yee-ha) 
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I know as human beings, we want instant gratification on everything.  When shopping for something, most people would like to have it in their hands immediately.  If they can’t find it in a store, they may have to get it online, but it darn sure better be there in 2 days or we are not happy.  Snowfall.  It snows at 9:00 AM today, and the roads better be clear by the time we leave work or we are all kinds of ticked off.  “What are those state guys doing?!!”  We often do this even to the detriment of anything else.  What do I care?  I want what I want, NOW. Be damned everything else.  Salting roads is the perfect example.  We forget how to drive on snow-covered roads, and we are extremely angry when the roads/parking lots are not completely bare right after the storm.  

Glenn Bell, Ag Resource Specialist BCCD
Did you know that our state leads the nation in the number of farms and acres permanently preserved for agricultural production?  The Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program was created to add resilience to Pennsylvania’s agricultural economy by protecting prime farmland. Through this program, state and county governments (sometimes federal) can purchase conservation easements on farmland which prevents the land from ever being developed. Since its start in 1988, Pennsylvania has preserved roughly 6,500 farms totaling 650,000 acres. 

Dan Rhodes, Education Coordinator, BCCD
In the last couple articles I’ve written about eels, much detail has gone into explaining the importance of American Eels in the Susquehanna River as a species necessary to keep the ecosystem functioning and the water clean. Along these lines, the crucial importance of eels can’t be overstated, but there are also other qualities of eels that must not be overlooked while teaching people about their overall value. As a conservationist, the mantra of the Conservation District in general is the promotion of a ‘wise use’ approach to natural resources. Wise use, especially when dealing with scarce and valuable resources such as the American eel, can be a difficult problem to solve but not an impossible one. As fisheries biologists and conservationists work toward helping the American eel make a full comeback in our waterways, I thought it might be important to highlight for the general public why American eels were a crucially important food and income source for people and wildlife in the past, and how/why it would be incredibly beneficial for everyone if American eels were allowed to reclaim this importance in the present and future.

Kevin Brown, BCCD, Ag Resource Specialist 
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.  This particular one is for giving thanks, and we should do so, for so many things.  I know it is easy to get all wrapped up in the negativity that goes on in the world today.  When we turn on the news we hear about all the things that are “coming at us” in the future and they are all negative- global warming, winter storms, prices of everything, world events, and the list goes on.  I think it is good to also reflect on what we have, and what we have gained in the last couple hundred years.  We have really come a long way, but we get so entangled in the negativity coming at us that we forget.  Or, maybe some readers aren’t even old enough to remember.
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We got through The Great Depression; a couple of world wars (We thank ALL Vets for their service.  Without them we would not have all that we have.  THANK YOU!); some smaller, but no less important, wars; the Industrial Revolution, and the list goes on.