Susquehanna Co. Conservation District's Don Hibbard urges observation, thinking through bigger decisions at home to make a difference for nature

​​According to Susquehanna County Conservation District Program Coordinator Don Hibbard, the key to making a difference in our day-to-day lives for the sake of protecting natural resources can come down to observation.

“I like to encourage people to ask a simple question when they are about to throw something away – where is away?” he said. “Maybe that will encourage you to recycle more instead of throwing garbage away because a lot of times, our trash ends up in places we don’t realize and a lot of those facilities don’t process garbage the right way.”

So mindfully thinking about how you dispose of things or reuse them can be vital, as well as planting trees.

“Trees do a lot of ecoservices for us, so taking time to plant more in your backyard and making an effort to mow your grass less offers more opportunities for doing something that can have a ‘right-away’ impact,” Hibbard said. “Shrinking your lawn and planting a pollinator garden in place of that is another way to help make a difference. Things like this can be fairly simple, yet are a matter of thinking why we are doing what we are doing, and then maybe that challenges us to change what we are doing.”

Hibbard started out his education at Penn State’s Forestry program, but “I knew I didn’t really want to cut trees down, per say, so I realized it wasn’t the avenue I wanted to take.”

He switched gears and took business classes instead.

“But I wasn’t really sure about that, so I found myself circling back to natural resource management, and that is where I found a good opportunity to grow,” he said.

Hibbard interned at the now-defunct Endless Mountain Nature Center.

Learn more about Don Hibbard and the Susquehanna County Conservation District's various efforts by listening to the most recent episode of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper podcast:

“I got the chance to see up close and personal how much of an impact environmental education can have on kids and their lives,” he said. “That really challenged me to go a little farther. I realized that no matter where I ended up, I definitely wanted to be in conservation and share my passion for our natural resources.”

Hibbard started at the Susquehanna County Conservation District about seven years ago as a waterways and wetlands technician and more recently stepped into the Program Coordinator role.

“You never know what you are going to be doing from day to day when working at a conservation district office, and that is especially true as a Program Coordinator,” he said. “I enjoy this opportunity very much.”

Building that sustainability is key in a field where there is much turnover.

“Fortunately, over the past couple years, we’ve found some really good local folks that have stuck around,” he said.
According to Hibbard, Susquehanna County is still a fairly big agricultural community, but it has changed some since the gas companies have started moving in.

“Dairy farms have gotten smaller or phased out altogether, and what’s replaced it has been the beef community. For some, it has been taking their hobby farm a little more seriously,” he said. “This has opened opportunities for us to reach out and offer education and resources.”

The district has been working on tacking nutrient load issues and installing best management practices on various properties, such as improving streams and riparian buffers. Beyond all that, Hibbard said the staff at his conservation district have a big heart for environmental education.

“Once we got this property in Montrose (for their current office), we have been gearing up more for environmental education,” said Hibbard. “That includes adding murals by local artists of the local start par and Woodbourne Nature Preserve and some other features, such as a farm and a wooded area.”

Outside the office, Hibbard and the rest of the team applied for grant funding to “add an interpretive trail around the property and down to the nearby tributary that has different interpretive points along the way.”

The conservation district also hosts a summer nature day camp that brings in about 60 kids with stations similar to the Envirothon (aquatics, forestry, wildlife and soils) that helps “get kids excited about the outdoors early in life.”

A unique additional feature for environmental education has been the conservation district’s partnership with local radio station WPEL that was sparked by retired watershed specialist Robert Fearnley.  

“He retired around the time I started and he encouraged me to jump in and continue doing a weekly radio show there on conservation topics – he even came up with the name, Conservation Corner,” said Hibbard. “Our secretary suggested putting those conversations into podcast form, and ever since we have been doing these discussions and interviews about conservation topics and events in the Endless Mountains with conservationists and others. It airs on the radio every Thursday.”

Episodes of the Conservation Corner podcast can be found at www.suscondistrict.org/conservation-corner

Ultimately, Hibbard encourages everyone to mindfully get outdoors more and to use the growing number of resources at our disposal to enhance that connection.

“This day and age, we have quite an opportunity through our smartphones,” he said. “There are a lot of good aps out there that identify species in our backyard, or identify bird calls.”

However, that opportunity can also quickly become a distraction, too.

“Outside of using those specialized apps, I would encourage everyone to use their phones less when spending time outdoors,” he said. “Connect with nature and think about how you can help make a difference by being observant and thinking through your decisions and the impacts they can have.”

Learn more about the Susquehanna County Conservation District and the programs it offers at www.suscondistrict.org