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RC&D Project Updates - December 2010 Black River-St. Lawrence RC&D Project Updates: December 2010 Council Meeting: The next meeting will be a videoconference at 9:00 on Wed Jan 12th. Locations: St. Lawrence, Lewis, Oswego, Herkimer CCE sites. Meetings are open to any interested parties. Forestry Committee Meeting: The next Forestry Committee teleconference will be January 5th at 9:00am. Agriculture Committee Meeting: The next Agriculture Committee teleconference will be January 10th at 10:00 am. Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and RC& D are working with the NYS Dept of Ag & Mkts Division of Plant Industry as part of their Northeast Forest Pest Outreach and Survey Project to hold a free workshop on identification and survey techniques for the Emerald Ash Borer and the Asian Longhorned Beetle. The workshop will be in Amboy, NY (Oswego County) on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 from 9:30-4:00 at the Amboy 4H Environmental Education Center. We are inviting anyone with interest in learning more about these invasive pests to attend this workshop. The morning session will be classroom presentations and then in the afternoon trained invasive pest surveyors will take to groups out to conduct field surveys. Lunch will be provided. Please call Linda Garrett, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust at 315-779-8240 to register. The Council is providing a letter of support to NYS DEC for their funding request to cover outreach and education and community preparedeness for Emerald Ash Borer. US Fish and Wildlife Service/Fish America Foundation Cooperative Agreement: No work has started yet. The contract is finalized and on file. This project will cover: removal of Fallsbrook Dam, Oswego County; streambank restoration on Salmon River, Oswego County; streambank restoration on Sandy Creek, Jefferson County. Logging Safety for Farmers: A very successful workshop was held in Herkimer County on November 29th. The Council worked with Hud-Son Forest Equipment to secure 10% off coupons for Personal Protective Equipment for workshop participants. A second workshop was held in St. Lawrence County on December 11th, with coupons provided by Le Berge and Curtis, Inc. The Oswego County workshop is scheduled for March 23rdat the Amboy 4-H Center. The Council is working with local vendors to secure coupons for these participants as well. We have ordered 250 copies of the booklet “Logging Safety- A Field Guide” for distribution. If you wish to obtain some for your customers, please call the RC&D office. Grass Pelleting Project: St. Lawrence University students worked on grass pelleting related projects this fall and presented their findings at the Grass Pellet Group meeting on Dec 3rd. Students developed outreach, informational and survey materials that the Grass Pelleting group will be able to utilize in the future. The Grass Pelleting Group continues to meet and develop ideas. They frequently have guest speakers to bring in additional information. Pasture Monitoring Project: Trish will continue working with farms in Franklin County for the next two years as a part of an intensive grazing technical assistance training class that she is taking. The RC&D Council submitted a joint proposal with Hudson Mohawk RC&D to support 3 farmer to farmer discussion groups (1 in this area). We hope to hear the results of this request early this spring. Don’t forget, Trish put together a “toolkit” of grazing related resources and information for farmers to borrow, and is willing to share this tool with other grazing educators- or give you the list of resources so you can build your own grazing toolkit. Recycling Ag Plastics: Cornell’s RAPP program secured DEC funding to bring ag plastics balers to Jefferson County and St. Lawrence County. These balers are managed by the SWCD’s and are currently available in Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis counties. We are currently only baling plastics for those farms who have already participated in the RAPP project, as the bales must be stored on-farm or at participating County facilities right now. We are strongly supporting Cornell’s efforts to develop a market for the baled plastic. Once there is a market for the bales, we intend to work with adjacent counties to make the balers available to them. RBEG Cape Vincent Community Wind Project: The contractor, SED, set up a met tower on the Chase farm in Cape Vincent. A real-time wind sensor was included and the information is available to the public. The tower will be up for one year, during which time the contractor will hold public meetings to discuss the formation of the community ownership model. The steering committee for this project will meet early in 2011 and will work on scheduling community meetings to continue to develop options for the community ownership model. Regional Biomass Group: This group has been meeting regularly and frequently asks guest speakers to present on specific topics. At the last meeting, a speaker from Franklin County discussed the concept of torrefication and its potential as a tool in utilizing biomass fuels such as wood and grasses. Franklin County Projects: Franklin County RC&D members are continuing to work on the Franklin County-based Algae Biofuels and Tire Recycling proposals with their respective project committees. Watershed Groups: St. Lawrence River Watershed Partnership The RC&D Council is working with partners to form an official group for watershed management planning and implementation activities. Black River Watershed Management Plan- The Lewis Co. SWCD and the Tug Hill Commission took the lead in organizing the development of the Black River Watershed Management Plan. Many local groups participanted. Mohawk River Watershed Oneida and Herkimer Co. SWCD’s are active in this group. Raquette River Blueway Group A community based group promoting river stewardship, education and access. Keep in Mind: Dry Hydrants and ISO Workshops- Waiting for project lead and funding opps. Livestock Processing All counties interested. Michelle L. from Lewis CCE is leading a local working group to discuss options. St. Law. Co. also has a working group. New processing plant now open in Oneida Co. Local Foods- All counties interested. Local CCE’s taking the lead in most counties. Forestry committee interested in: Portable Skidder Bridge/Culvert rentals and Logging Machinery Maintenance training course (NY Logger Training credits). Dec. Meetings: 12/3- Grass Pelleting- Student Presentations SLU 12/7- NRCS All Employees Meeting-Auburn 12/8- Jeff Co Ag Service Roundtable 12/10- Edwards-Knox School- tour of biomass district heating facility 12/15- Venison Donation Coalition conf call 12/16- Oswego Co. SWCD BOD 12/20- Executive Committee conf call Upcoming Meetings: 1/5- Forestry teleconf 1/10- Ag teleconf 1/11- Grass Pelleting 1/12- RC&D Council Videoconf 1/15-1/17- Tug Hill SnowKite Weekend! 1/18- Regional Biomass meeting 1/26- Franklin Co. WQCC 1/26- Algae biofuel committee 1/27- Meet with NYS DOH re. GOL for Farmers, Troy 1/28-1/29- Grassfed Green-up Conference, Latham Respectfully Submitted, Chanda Lindsay USDA-NRCS RC&D Coordinator, Assisting Black River- St. Lawrence RC&D Council |
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USDA-NRCS Employees Who Assist The Black River-St. Lawrence RC&D Council CHANDA LINDSAY - RC&D Coordinator  Chanda has been with the USDA NRCS, working with the Black River-St. Lawrence RC&D Council, since February 2008. She has found her niche working with the diverse array of projects and programs that the RC&D Council is involved in.
Chanda says: “It’s all about being a jack-of-all-trades- at least that’s the way it works for me! From a Bachelors in Animal Science to a Masters in Outdoor and Environmental Education and from a zookeeping job to a RC&D Coordinator career- diversity has been the name of the game in my career path. What better place to be than right here in Northern New York? This area suits my personal preferences as an outdoor enthusiast as well as my professional preferences for diverse opportunities. As the coordinator for the Black River- St. Lawrence Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. (RC&D), I work with a council consisting of representatives from seven counties in the North Country to coordinate a wide array of resource conservation and rural development activities- from forestry to agriculture to recreation. The Council is made up of volunteer members from Soil and Water Conservation Districts, County Legislatures and At-Large members from the community. The Council members are the movers and shakers- who develop and implement project ideas which are as diverse as the council membership. The Council does everything from organizing Chainsaw Safety and Lumber Grading Workshops to assisting with Watershed Plans to working on local renewable energy projects. My job is to facilitate this process by making connections with local partners, assisting with grant writing and helping with follow up. I look forward to continuing to work with this fantastic team and all of our partners to offer some great opportunities to benefit residents and tourists alike in the North Country. I am grateful every day to be able to live and work here!” |
BECCA HARE - RC&D Secretary Becca is an Adams Center, N.Y. native, who has found a perfect fit working part-time for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Prior to working for NRCS, she worked fulltime for a very busy local agricultural dealership. Becca works part-time performing the day-to-day operations in the RC&D business office. Becca manages to squeeze work or extracurricular activities into nearly every minute of every day. She coaches modified boys and girls cross country in the fall, eighth grade girl’s volleyball in the winter, and seventh grade girl’s softball in spring at her alma mater, South Jefferson Central School, in Adams. Becca received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from SUNY Potsdam in 1990 for Writing and Editing. Her husband is a Civilian employee as one of the managers for the Defense Commissary Agency at Fort Drum. Mark and Becca have two children, Benjamin (10) and Jillian (8). Becca has worked for NRCS since October of 2004. |
