Somerset and Piscataquis Soil and Water Conservation Districts to host pond construction and management workshop

PARKMAN — Somerset and Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation Districts are teaming up to bring a pond construction and management workshop to this area. The workshop will happen on Sunday, Oct. 6 in Parkman and will include both a classroom and field component.

If you have ever considered adding a pond to your property — whether it be for wildlife, irrigation or recreation — this is the workshop for you! You will hear from expert presenters including Candi Gilpatric, Agricultural Engineer with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Joe Dembeck, wildlife biologist and former executive director of Somerset County Soil and Water Conservation District. Candi Gilpatrick has more than 25 years of experience with NRCS providing engineering technical assistance. She will focus on site selection, styles of ponds, and methods for construction. For those who already have ponds, Gilpatrick will discuss helpful maintenance practices to keep your pond safe and healthy. Dembeck’s presentation will focus on pond biology and the wildlife associated with ponds in Maine. He will discuss pond habitat features for aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, fish considerations, and nuisance wildlife. Additionally, participants will tour a pond and hear from that landowner about their pond design and uses.

Registration is required to attend this event and it is strongly encouraged to register early as we do have a participant cap. Each participant will receive a Ponds – Planning, Design and Construction manual as part of their registration fee. To register please email Jennifer Hebert at jhebert@maineconservationdistricts.com. For more about this workshop, visit www.piscataquisswcd.org or www.somersetswcd.org.