The “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s was the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history. Poor farming practices, compounded by a prolonged drought, swept away layers of soil in the Southern Plains, threatening the future of the breadbasket of our nation.
But out of this terrible tragedy came something good — an awareness about the need for conservation.
In Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland County, local farmers saw the Dust Bowl as a hard lesson about the importance of conserving natural resources — about preserving and protecting the soil, streams, and forests that supported families and fueled the local economy. These local farmers asked the county commissioners to create an agency that could show them the best ways to conserve, and the Westmoreland Conservation District was formed.
With the new organization’s help, farmers began learning how to plow on the contour, how to create grassed waterways, and how to put other conservation techniques into practice on their farms. As a testament to their success, some of these farms are still in place today.
In the 1960s, Peoples first became involved with the Westmoreland Conservation District through one of our employees, J. Roy Houston. Roy was so taken with the conservation cause, he became the District’s chairman and its greatest champion. In the 40 years he served, the District swelled from one employee to 15, from one conservation program to seven, and from a couple of volunteers to a support base of nearly 100 dedicated community members. Once Roy made the connection between Peoples and the Westmoreland Conservation District, the partnership—and the friendship—has continued to grow over the past five decades.
In addition to its legacy of helping farmers conserve productive farmland, the Westmoreland Conservation District has responded to the changing use of land in Westmoreland County. By expanding their conservation efforts to also reach developers, loggers, earthmovers, municipal officials, and others, they’ve helped to educate the region while bringing more partners to the table.
Today, the Westmoreland Conservation District works with local municipal officials to reduce the risk of flooding in their communities. The most effective way to do cut down on that risk is by managing stormwater. They work with timber harvesters to design logging roads, for example. And they also work with developers to identify the best locations to place stores, buildings, and houses in order to reduce the amount of erosion.
The District’s work extends far beyond managing stormwater, though. They oversee a statewide program to improve dirt, gravel, and low-volume roads. By doing so, they help to reduce erosion and improve water quality in the streams that often run parallel to these roads. In addition, they partner with local watershed associations to restore the health of streams and install systems to remove the pollution from abandoned coal mines. And, most recently, they have even started to monitor local mosquito populations for diseases like West Nile Virus.
In addition to helping other organizations and companies, the Westmoreland Conservation District is very vigilant in holding themselves to the highest environmental standards, too. As part of their partnership with Peoples, three years ago, the Westmoreland Conservation District purchased two clean-burning, bi-fuel natural gas pickup trucks and installed a “slow-fill” station on their campus to fuel them.
“Our staff drive a total of about 18,000 miles every year in the course of our work,” said Greg Phillips, the Westmoreland Conservation District’s Manager and CEO. “So when we had a chance to reduce the impact of that travel, improve air quality, and reduce dependence on imported fuel — all of which the natural gas vehicles do — we were all for it. Natural gas vehicles are a perfect fit with our mission of protecting the environment and conserving resources.”
The slow-fill station is located on the District’s conservation campus in Greensburg. The conservation campus includes the District’s headquarters, which is a restored 1880s-era barn; an arboretum; a self-guided stormwater trail; a windmill and solar panels; demonstration gardens; and two buildings – including a green building that boasts the first green roof in Westmoreland County – that house partner agencies. And right across the street? One of Peoples’ field offices.
“It’s very important for us to continue our strong partnership with the Westmoreland Conservation District, and to be a part of what J. Roy Houston helped to begin so many years ago,” says Barry Kukovich, Director of Communications and Community Relations at Peoples. “What’s particularly exciting is how the Westmoreland Conservation District has evolved and become so effective in what they do for the environment. We need to be a part of that, and we need to keep helping each other as we move forward.”
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