SJ380: Commending the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award.


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 380
Commending the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, January 31, 2013
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 8, 2013
 

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 2012 as winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and

WHEREAS, ten of those farms were selected and announced at the December 2012 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:

Hickory Corner Dairy/Virginia Tobacco, Lee County, for the Big Sandy/Tennessee River Basin;

Hanks’ Farm, Franklin and Gloria Hanks, Lunenburg County, for the Chowan River Basin;

New Earth Farm, John Wilson, Virginia Beach, for the Coastal Basin;

Evelynton Farms, Inc., Archer and Timothy Ruffin, Charles City County, for the James River Basin;

Diamond J. Ranch, Franklin and Mary Jones, Carroll County, for the New River Basin;

Glenowen Farm, The Thomas Family, Loudoun County, for the Potomac River Basin;

Mount Vernon Farm, Cliff Miller, Rappahannock County, for the Rappahannock River Basin;

Grind-N-Stone Farms, Clark and John Poindexter, Charlotte County, for the Roanoke River Basin;

Harry and Sue Polk, Shenandoah County, for the Shenandoah River Basin; and

Elisabeth Aiken Nolting Charitable Foundation, Bracketts Farm, Louisa County, for the York River Basin; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly 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.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 380

Offered January 25, 2013
Commending the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award.
Patron-- Hanger

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 2012 as winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and

WHEREAS, ten of those farms were selected and announced at the December 2012 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:

Hickory Corner Dairy/Virginia Tobacco, Lee County, for the Big Sandy/Tennessee River Basin;

Hanks’ Farm, Franklin and Gloria Hanks, Lunenburg County, for the Chowan River Basin;

New Earth Farm, John Wilson, Virginia Beach, for the Coastal Basin;

Evelynton Farms, Inc., Archer and Timothy Ruffin, Charles City County, for the James River Basin;

Diamond J. Ranch, Franklin and Mary Jones, Carroll County, for the New River Basin;

Glenowen Farm, The Thomas Family, Loudoun County, for the Potomac River Basin;

Mount Vernon Farm, Cliff Miller, Rappahannock County, for the Rappahannock River Basin;

Grind-N-Stone Farms, Clark and John Poindexter, Charlotte County, for the Roanoke River Basin;

Harry and Sue Polk, Shenandoah County, for the Shenandoah River Basin; and

Elisabeth Aiken Nolting Charitable Foundation, Bracketts Farm, Louisa County, for the York River Basin; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly 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.