Niagara County Soil & Water Cons

NCSWCD has a annual pond stocking program. Each year, the District assists in providing fingerlings to area residents by coordinating delivery of stock to the District office located at the Niagara County Fairgrounds on Rt. 78. The program offers largemouth bass, perch, minnows, and koi. Tadpoles and daphnia are also available for starting food chains in new ponds.

Triploid Grass Carp for aquatic weed control are also available for purchase each fall. You MUST obtain a stocking permit from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation in order to obtain Grass carp from the District.

AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (AEM)

AEM is a voluntary, incentive-based program that helps farmers identify their environmental concerns and management needs and coordinates the delivery of technical and financial resources to help farmers operate environmentally sound and economically viable businesses.

to participate in the AEM program, please contact:

NIAGARA/ORLEANS ENVIROTHON

The Envirothon is a series of hands-on contests in which teams of high school students compete to solve environmental problems. The event works much like an athletic competition where the winners of each event get a chance to compete at a higher level (County, State, International). Envirothon stimulates practical curriculum development by establishing broad study areas and helping schools to find useful resources in their community. Partnering schools with your local Soil & Water Conservation District, and other environmentally concerned organizations, is a smart match. It can provide students with a first hand look at what environmental careers are like.

Envirothon activities begin locally with teams of five high school students (grades 9-12) competing against other school teams for their county title. An advisor (teacher, parent, community leader, etc) is required for each team. The role of the advisor is to assist students in preparing for the competition and to accompany them the day of the event. The same advisor may represent more than one team. Team knowledge is challenged in five areas: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and current issues topic which is identified annually. Also required is a prepared problem-solving presentation by the entire team, discussing and offering solutions to a given situation based on the current issues topic. This counts as 1/6th of the score. At the state and national levels the presentation is done “live”. Due to time constraints, the presentation for the regional competition is pre-recorded on video by each school.

If your school is interested in the Niagara/Orleans Envirothon, please contact:

www.nysenvirothon.net

CONSERVATION FIELD DAYS

Conservation Field Days is an outdoor environmental education event for fifth and sixth grade students. Our Conservation Field Days are held in June, at Victor A. Fitchlee, Royalton Ravine Park, in Gasport, NY. During the event, classes of students rotate through several different stations hosted by a variety of conservation professionals. Topics include such topics as Birds of NY, Environmenal Law, Agricultural Stewardship, Forestry, Wetlands, Recycling, and much more. Through the many interactive and demonstrative activities that take place, students learn that conservation has an impact on them, and that they can have an impact on the environment.

If your school is interested in the Conservation Field Days, please contact: