AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION NEWS

A Publication of the Baltimore County Soil conservation District
Editor: Gerald F.Talbert ---  Web Page : Dan Bard

 
Volume 7, Issue 2

April 2005

MARYLAND’S SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2004

Maryland’s soil conservation districts completed another productive year of providing technical assistance to landowners and developers. Three of the most important tasks for districts are to develop or revise soil conservation and water quality plans on farmland, to approve sediment control plans on proposed construction sites and to conduct conservation education outreach. Significant progress was made in all of those areas across the State and Baltimore County was no exception. 

Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plans

In 2004, district field staff in Maryland’s 24 soil conservation districts developed 1,100 comprehensive soil conservation and water quality plans to protect natural resources on 87,100 acres of farmland. In Baltimore County, 46 new conservation plans were developed, protecting 2,622 acres. Over time, most existing conservation plans need to be revised to reflect the impact of a change in farm operations or to rejuvenate old conservation systems. Across the State, 850 existing plans covering 100,000 acres were updated to continue to provide effective protection. Six of those plans covering 1,507 acres were in Baltimore County. The new and revised plans called for more than 6,000 best management practices (BMPs) to solve existing pollution problems. In Baltimore County, 34 landowners installed 460 BMPs on their properties. 

Cost-Share Programs

The Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share Program (MACS) granted $4.8 million to farmers to install more than 1,500 projects. Landowners provided an additional $600,000 to cover the full cost of the BMPs. These projects prevented 15,000 tons of sediment annually and 1,000 tons of manure daily from being washed into streams. Federal funds through USDA conservation cost-share programs also provided substantial assistance to Maryland farmers: $5.3 million from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP); $1.2 million from the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP); and, $734,000 from the Agricultural Management Assistance Program (AMA). 

Erosion and Sediment Control Plans

A 1972 State law dictates that the soil conservation district in each county must review erosion and sediment control plans for approval prior to a developer being issued a permit to begin grading on a new construction site. In 2004, 19,000 such plans were reviewed affecting 62,000 acres and approximately 8,300 plans were approved.

In Baltimore County, 934 plan reviews were performed, resulting in 210 sediment control plan approvals to protect 1,887 acres under active construction. In addition, 20 sediment control plans for forestry were approved, protecting 581 acres during logging operations. 

Soil Surveys 

Since 1899, soil surveys have provided valuable information about the characteristics of individual soil types and groups and their capacity for various land uses such as agriculture, development or wildlife habitat. Over the last several years, soil surveys across the nation have been undergoing state of the art modernization by incorporating information from advanced computer programs and geographic information systems. Baltimore County is on a waiting list to update its 1976 soil survey. Work is expected to begin in 2006. 

Conservation Education

Information and education outreach to youth and adults is an important component of the district mission. Soil conservation districts across the state support the Envirothon, a national environmental competition in which teams of high school students compete at the county, state and national levels in a test of knowledge in environmental subjects and presentation skills. Other education projects include agricultural and urban conservation tours, seminars and workshops. Baltimore County SCD actively participates in the Envirothon and distributes information in publications and newsletters. The District created and distributes two publications, My Conservation Book, a coloring book for elementary school children, and From My Backyard to Our Bay, a Homeowner’s Guide to Improving the Environment and Drinking Water, a handbook for suburban and rural homeowners.

 

 
2005 Board Meeting Dates 

Monthly meetings of the Board of Supervisors is open to the public. All of the meetings listed below will be held in the conference room of the offices of the Baltimore County Soil Conservation District, 9831 Van Buren Lane, Cockeysville, MD.

  • April 19—10:00 a.m.

  • May 17 - 7:00 p.m.

  • June 21—7:00 p.m.

  • July 19—10:00 a.m.

  • August 16—10:00 a.m.

  • September 20—7:00 p.m

  • October 18—7:00 p.m.

  • November 15—10:00 a.m

  • December 20—10:00 a.m.

Baltimore County Small Watershed Action Plans

Baltimore County, under the leadership of the Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, is developing a series of “small watershed action plans” (SWAP) for 24 small watersheds. These watersheds were selected based on similarity of impacts, with the initial focus on urban and suburban watersheds.

A SWAP is a document prepared through community collaboration with the County to set protection and restoration goals for small watersheds. It outlines specific actions to be taken by both the County and residents in each of the watersheds to achieve protection and restoration goals. The plan will build on the technical assessments done over the past 8-10 years by consultants that identified important resources as well as problems in each watershed. These “watershed plans” provide a useful starting point for defining conditions in each watershed and suggesting remedial actions. The action plan process is intended to help prioritize and facilitate restoration projects for the watershed.

The SWAP planning process is also meant to bring together the many mandates that the County is charged to meet in each individual watershed. For example, Baltimore County, along with the other local jurisdictions in Maryland, has committed to achieve the goals in Chesapeake 2000, the current Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The County is a partner in the state’s “tributary strategy” program, which sets targets for nutrient reduction in order to achieve a clean Bay. The County also must meet mandates known as TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) for impaired streams and receiving waters, and has an NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit that requires certain water quality goals to be met. 

The small watershed action planning process is designed to bring all these individual mandates together at a watershed level that will help residents understand the intent of each program, how to most efficiently meet the goals, and define the roles of the partners.

 

 

Stakeholders are being urged to participate in the action planning process for a number of reasons: 

  • They may be aware of conditions and circumstances at the small watershed level that could affect the County’s ability to accomplish desired actions.
  • They represent citizens whose support is essential to make changes favorable to the watershed.
  • They can become locally based experts on the watershed functions and be part of the outreach effort to other residents, businesses, and organizations.
  • They can participate in watershed improvements by actions they take on their own property, whether it is via lawn care, septic system maintenance, parking lot management, reduction of impervious surfaces, planting of buffers, community education and many other practices

The action planning process started in the winter of 2005. It is anticipated that it will take 8-12 months to develop each plan. DEPRM intends to use the action plans to help target the expenditure of capital funds appropriated by the County for stream and shoreline improvements. SWAP public meetings have taken place in the following watersheds:

  • Goodwin Run/Hunt Valley/Loveton– January 19th and March 15th; 
  • Roland Run/Towson Run—February 8;
  • Whitemarsh Run/Honeygo Run - March 21st; and, 
  • Lower Patapsco- April 4th.

 

Cover Crop Reimbursement

The March 1st start for spring kill-down or suppression of cost-shared cover crops has passed. Available options include killing by herbicide, plowing it under and green chopping (for on-farm use only). Harvesting is not allowed with the current cover crop program. Producers must certify to the soil conservation district that the cover crop has been suppressed or killed down by June 3, 2005 by submitting the spring certification form and the claim for payment. Please call the office should you have any questions regarding the spring certification process. We will keep you informed on the 2005-2006 cover crop as soon as the information is released by MDA.

15 Years of Service District

Chairman Stephen Smith, left, presents Jim Ensor, with a plaque to commemorate 15 years of service to the District. Jim first worked as a soil conservation planner for 5 years. Since 1995, he has served as District Manager. -Photo by Essy Frey

2004 CONSULTING AWARDS

The Baltimore County Soil Conservation District presented the 2004 Consulting Awards to Little & Associates of Towson, MD for the Consulting Firm of the Year and George M. McCubbin of Little & Associates for Consultant of the Year. The awards are presented each year to the firm and consultant that demonstrate excellence and consistency in the preparation of sediment control plans to control erosion and sedimentation on active construction sites. Little & Associates and Mr. McCubbin were selected because of their consistently thorough, high quality work and excellent response to review comments. Above, Jeff West, District Urban Conservationist (center), presents the Consulting Firm Award to G. Dwight Little, Jr., President, Little & Associates (left) and George McCubbin (right). 

Photo by Essy Frey

 

The New District Board

The governing body of the District, the Board of Supervisors, is composed of five county residents who are appointed by various organizations to serve unsalaried, five-year terms, for which they take an oath of office. The Board also invites associate supervisors to serve at the pleasure of the Board in a non-voting, advisory capacity. 

Back row, left to right: Ernest Shea, Associate Supervisor; Vernon Foster, Supervisor; Steve Smith, Supervisor and Board Chairman; David Martin, Cooperative Extension ; Charles Conklin, Supervisor. Front row, left to right: Lucy Wright, Associate Supervisor; Thomas Reynolds, Supervisor; Daniel Dorsey, Associate Supervisor; Bud Sparks, Supervisor and Board Treasurer. (Not Shown: Pat Ghingher, Associate Supervisor). 

Photo by Jim Ensor

 
   

Let Us Know If We Can Help You!

The Maryland Agricultural Cost-Share Program (MACS) will pay 87.5% of the installation cost of these practices for qualifying landowners:

_____Waste Storage                   _____Grassed Waterway
_____Riparian Buffer                   _____Winter Cover Crop
_____Diversion                           _____Field Border
_____Heavy Use Area Protection _____Filter Strip
_____Roof Runoff Mngt. System  _____Sediment Basin
_____Spring Development          _____Stream Crossing
_____Stream Fencing                 _____Strip Cropping
_____Trough or Tank                  _____Critical Area Planting

If you would like to see if you qualify or you’d like more information on these or other conservation practices, a conservation plan for your property or updating an old plan, mail or fax this form to us and we will contact you.

Name______________________________________
Address___________________________________
__________________________________________
Phone #__________________________________

Fax to: 410-666-0179
or mail to:
Baltimore County Soil Conservation District
9831 Van Buren Lane
Cockeysville, MD 21030

Help Us Update Our Mailing List

In a continuing effort to keep our mailing list up to date, we’d appreciate hearing from you if we need to make an adjustment. Please mail this form or fax it to 410-666-0179 or call us at 410-666-1188, ext. 3.

Name_____________________________________

Address___________________________________

City________________State_____Zip__________

Check One

____ Remove my name from your mailing list.

____ Add the name above to your mailing list.

____ Note above address change.

____ I’m receiving duplicate copies.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

New USDA Service Center Phone System

The Baltimore County USDA Service Center in Cockeysville has upgraded the telephone system to allow the caller to connect directly with individuals by keying in extension numbers. Here are some extension numbers for agricultural program assistance:

Dial 410-666-1188 plus extension:

Soil Conservation District:

Jim Ensor, District Manager...............................107

Essy Frey, Administrative Assistant..................101

USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service

Tim Clippinger , District Conservationist..............106

Mick Shockley, Resource Conservationist..........112

Andy Thomas, District Planner........................109

 Ray Sufczynski , Soil Conservationist......................108

USDA-Farm Services Agency

Eva Delp Cole, County Executive Director.........105

Beverly Gostomski, Program Technician............100

“...Conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of man.  Conservation is the foresighted utilization, preservation, and/or renewal of forests, waters, lands and minerals for the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time...”
 – Gifford Pinchot, first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service