Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District Fall 2020 Education Newsletter

Title

Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District Fall 2020 Education Newsletter

Description

Fall 2020 Education Newsletter for Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District, includes COVID-19 impacts and updates.

Date

2020-10-01

Type

Format

PDF

Publisher

Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District

Rights

In Copyright

Text

PCSWCD Working Through COVID: Impacts & Updates

I started my March COVID Update article with “let’s take a moment to breathe together” and I would say that is needed this Fall as well! It has been a difficult time and we have ALL been a part of major changes in our professional and personal lives. We want to thank you all for your continued support. As we closed our office doors to the public, postponed events, put safety guidelines in place and made adjustment after adjustment, you stood by us, met us with understanding and we appreciate that.

Despite the adjustments and with new standard operating procedures in place, the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District has experienced a number of successes in the 2020 events season. All planned events that exceeded in-person limits or had elements that could not be worked with, will be offered in 2021. The wonderful presenters that work with us were happy to offer programming for us in the coming year and we look forward to working with them and seeing all of you at these events. We also have been working with presenters to offer multiple sessions of outdoor events to both allow for social distancing and accommodate the overwhelming demand for programming. We were able meet the need AND do so safely - that’s a win, win! We offered three outdoor educational programs this summer - Rotational Grazing with Wendy Russell of Widdershins Farm, Wild Edible Foraging with Tom Seymour and Chainsaw Safety for Women. Each of these events reached capacity and our participants respectfully followed safety guidelines.

Another great success story from Spring and Summer 2020 has been the growth of the LakeSmart program. As we postponed events, we created room to expand LakeSmart and doubled the number of evaluations done in 2019. The program is an evaluation program that helps waterfront property owners address erosion issues on their properties. The evaluations were offered safely and were a great way to make progress on the protection of our natural resources. After all, lakes, ponds and water resources are vitally important!

Our District received support through the Keep Maine Healthy Grant via the Town of Dover-Foxcroft and was able to install hand sanitizer pumps at both of our public lands. Additionally, we purchased portable hand-washing stations, making all outdoor events places where participants can wash their hands and keep themselves and others safe.

These successes would not have been possible without the support received from participants, supporters and our wonderful presenters. Thank you for working with us! As we approach the remainder of 2020 and look forward to 2021, we are ready to continue to be creative, work collaboratively with all of you and offer quality, in-demand programming. We will continue to promote natural resource conservation in every way possible.

Please reach out to us and let us know what you would like to see for programming in 2021. Additionally, if you have questions about anything we are working on, how we could possibly work together, we are all ears!

Thank you!

Kacey Weber, Educational Coordinator, Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District

Collection

Citation

Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District, “Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District Fall 2020 Education Newsletter,” Heart of Maine Community Stories, accessed March 29, 2024, https://heartofmaine.omeka.net/items/show/119.

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