Well, winter is upon us and from the way it has started it looks like we are in for a cold one! We haven’t made it through the month of December and we have already gotten more snow then we typically get throughout the entire winter here in D.C.! 

I am please to announce that The 16^th Annual MAC IECA Conference held September 22 – 24, 2009 at the Crown Plaza in Timonium, Maryland went off without a hitch. Although the attendance was slightly down from previous years, we still managed to pull off a great conference!  By partnering with EnviroCert and the Maryland Association of Soil Conservations Districts, Inc. we were able to offset some of the costs and we came out having a profitable conference.  

Attendees were able to sit in on a host of interesting presentations on case studies, information about rain gardens, Low Impact Development Techniques (LID), MDE standards and updates. I would like to personally that all of the speakers that took time out of their busy schedules and prepared and presented such a wide array of interesting and informative presentations!  

This years golf outing took place at the Diamond Ridge Golf Course in Windsor Mill, Maryland. The weather was beautiful and except for the maintenance crews redoing a few of the fairways on the back nine, it was an enjoyable course. Due to the fact that we had a few less golfers this year, we decided to have teams of two rather than the typical teams of four. The pairing of Don Sheaffer and Butch Wilson beat the field and was this year’s champion. Robert Connelly and Don Sheaffer also showed their skills in our individual contests. Between the two of them, they won the longest drive contest, both closest to the pin contests, AND the longest putt competition! Good job guys! For those of you that don’t know me I am horrible at golf, so needless to say by the end of the day I had enough golf to last me until next years conference!  

The 16^th th Annual Conference would not have been a success if it weren’t for the dedication of the MAC IECA Board members, especially our conference committee!  The conference Committee was chaired by Mr. Charles “Butch” Wilson, Mr. Paul Clement and Mr. John Gonzalez. If it were not for these three gentlemen, I am not sure we would have had a successful conference in 2009. Thanks for all your hard work guys, it is greatly appreciated! 

Mark you calendars - the 17^th Annual MAC IECA Conference will be held September 21-24 in Front Royal, Virginia. Mr. Jason Beeler will be heading up the conference committee this year, so if you are interested in getting involved please feel free to contact him at jbeeler@wetlandstudies.com . More on the 17^th Annual Conference to come in the near future.

Roy Van Houten