Bill Text: VA HJR980 | 2019 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending the 10 River Basin Grand Winners of the Clean Water Farm Award.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-21 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ980ER) [HJR980 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HJR980-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 2018 as winners of the Clean Water Farm Award; and
WHEREAS, ten of those farms were selected and announced at the December 2018 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:
Seth and Courtney Umbarger, Laurel Springs Farm, Smyth County for the Big Sandy-Upper Tennessee River Basin;
Richard T. Hite, Jr., Hite Farming LLC, Lunenburg County, for the Chowan River Basin;
David L. Long, Long Grain and Livestock, Northampton County, for the Coastal Basin;
Mike and Ashley McMahon, Magnolia Farm, Albemarle County, for the James River Basin;
the Sharitz Family, Sharitz Dairy, Wythe County, for the New River Basin;
Jay and Sonja Yankey, Yankey Farms, Prince William County, for the Potomac River Basin;
William M. and Mary S.T. Alphin Family Limited Partnership, Rillhurt Farm, Culpeper County, for the Rappahannock River Basin;
the Thurman and Furrow Families, Lazy Acres Angus, Franklin County, for the Roanoke River Basin;
Roger and Sharon Shifflett, Purple Cow Road Farms, Augusta County, for the Shenandoah River Basin;
the Higginbotham and Gibson Families, Higginbotham and Gibson Family Farms, Orange County, for the York River Basin; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate 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 House of Delegates 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.
