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2015 SESSION

15103976D
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 311
Offered January 29, 2015
Commending the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award.
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Patrons-- Hanger; Delegate: Scott
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WHEREAS, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts provide farmers throughout the Commonwealth with education, technical assistance, and incentive programs to encourage nutrient reduction and water quality improvement; and

WHEREAS, the General Assembly passed legislation in 1998 to establish the Clean Water Farm Award Program, which is administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation; and

WHEREAS, the Clean Water Farm Award Program furthers the Commonwealth’s water quality goals by recognizing farmers actively engaged in implementing important conservation practices that control nutrients, sediment, and other agricultural nonpoint source pollutants; and

WHEREAS, the Soil and Water Conservation Districts selected local farms across the Commonwealth for recognition in 2014 as winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and

WHEREAS, ten of those farms were selected and announced at the December 2014 meeting of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts by the Governor and the Department of Conservation and Recreation to represent the Commonwealth’s 10 major river basins and to recognize the exemplary efforts of such farms in implementing best management practices; and

WHEREAS, those 10 winners are:

James M. Harris, Tazewell County, for the Big Sandy/Tennessee River Basin;

Scott Bridgeforth, Windy Hills Farm, Lunenburg County, for the Chowan River Basin;

Rick Hall, Loblolly Farms, Accomack County, for the Coastal Basin;

Ronnie and Brenda Morris, Fox Mountain Farm, Albemarle County, for the James River Basin;

Brian and Kayla Umberger, Mountain Spring Farms LLC, Wythe County, for the New River Basin;

Joseph Rogers, Jr., Terra Farms, Loudoun County, for the Potomac River Basin;

Frank and Janet Ott, Marshfield Farms, Fauquier County, for the Rappahannock River Basin;

David and Liisa Wallace, Mulberry Farm, Patrick County, for the Roanoke River Basin;

Willis and Krystal Heatwole, Bethel Bend Farm, Rockingham County, for the Shenandoah River Basin; and

Helen Marie Taylor, Bloomsbury Farm, Orange County, for the York River Basin; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare copies of this resolution for presentation to the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for their commitment to conserving the Commonwealth’s natural resources and their outstanding conservation achievements.