Bill Text: VA SJR90 | 2018 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-02-16 - Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ90ER) [SJR90 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2018-SJR90-Enrolled.html
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 2017 as winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and
WHEREAS, ten of those farms were selected and announced at the December 2017 meeting of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts by 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:
Matthew Heldreth, Heldreth Farms, Wythe County, for the Big Sandy-Upper Tennessee River Basin;
Robert and Mark Spiers, Spiers Farm LLC and Double Branch LLC, Dinwiddie County, for the Chowan River Basin;
Lynn and Sands Gayle, Mount Nebo Farms LLC, Accomack County, for the Coastal Basin;
Hugh S. Jones, Richlands Dairy Farm Inc., Nottoway County, for the James River Basin;
George and Julie Hudson, Greenway Dairy Inc., Pulaski County, for the New River Basin;
Thomas C. Latham, Greenville Farm and Family Campground Inc., Prince William County, for the Potomac River Basin;
Daron L. Culbertson, Willingham Farm, Fauquier County, for the Rappahannock River Basin;
Timmy, Devone, Kevin, and Davey Ferrell, Ferrell Family Farms, Charlotte County, for the Roanoke River Basin;
Kate Mahanes and Jim Fleming, Indigo Hills Ranch LLC, Augusta County, for the Shenandoah River Basin; and
Joseph R. Brame III, Jordan Farm (Orange) LLC, 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.
