UPCOMING EVENTS
2023 Spring Fish Sale
The Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District is now accepting orders for the 2023 Spring Fish Sale. The sale is planned for Thursday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. Many species of live fish for pond stocking will be available including Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Black Crappie, Regular and Hybrid Bluegill, Redear, Fathead Minnows and Grass Carp for pond maintenance. Order forms can be obtained by calling 217-532-3361 extension 3. The Montgomery County SWCD is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
Regenerative Grazing Winter Field Days
The Embarras Grazing Partnership is providing 2 days of intensive workshops on March 7 and 8, 2023, for technical service providers, agriculture professionals and producers. Both days will include on-farm examples and education at nearby Hand Farms in Fillmore. Follow this link to register: 2023 Regenerative Grazing Winter Field Days - The Land Connection
RECENT EVENTS
82ND ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTION
Jean Brokish of the American Farmland Trust explains the carbon market at the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District annual meeting.
JOURNAL-NEWS PHOTO & ARTICLE BY MIKE PLUNKETT
“This is the first year we’ve gotten together since 2020,” Chairman Dave Pastrovich said to begin the 82nd annual meeting of the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the extension office in Hillsboro.
After an invocation from CJ Liddell and a meal provided by Milanos Catering, Chairman Pastrovich introduced fellow district directors Vice Chairman Ken Suslee, Secretary Treasurer Dave Schluckebier, directors Dennis Hand and Jason Anderson, and associate directors Dick Lyons, Bob Wilson, Ralph Jones, Ruth McCario, Tommy Justison, Darin Rosenthal and Doug Pezold. He also introduced soil and water conservation district staff, resource conservationist Gabe Osborn and administrative coordinator Melissa Cauble, and NRCS staff, district conservationist Aaron Engstrom, soil conservationists Christine Emerson and Heidi Atkinson.
Pastrovich also introduced State Senator Steve McClure, who said he has established a new district office in Litchfield and has been selected as floor leader for the Illinois Senate Republicans.
At the recommendation of Tony Krager of the Nominating Committee, Pastrovich and Suslee were reelected as directors without opposition.
Associate director Dick Lyons called Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy goals “the best of times and the worst of times.” Regarding point sources, sanitary sewer replacement upstate will likely reach its goal ahead of schedule, but downstate, although there have been gains in nitrogen runoff reduction, “we cannot control the weather.”
He advised beginning cover crop programs this fall.
While reviewing the soil and water conservation district’s past year, resource conservationist Gabe Osborn, who has worked in that position since April 1, pointed out that “uncooperative weather” has demonstrated the need for more erosion control practices.
NRCS district conservationist Christine Emerson said her program has been working with Hillsboro and Litchfield on their lakes, and she reviewed the number of Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Qualities Incentive Program (EQIP), and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) opportunities in the county. Montgomery County led the state in enrollments in the Illinois Cover Crops Initiative Program with 6,164 acres.
Chairman Pastrovich reported that Natural Area Guardians (NAGs) continue to work on the Route 66 Prairie north of Litchfield, and continue to work toward a butterfly monument at that site.
After reelection of two directors and reports on the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy, soil and water conservation district activities, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) activities, and Natural Area Guardians work over the past year, American Farmland Trust deputy director Jean Brokish explained carbon market opportunities for local producers.
MISSION
The mission of the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District is to ensure a leadership role in natural resource conservation, provide technical service and information to the people of Montgomery County that will control and prevent soil erosion, prevent air and water pollution, conserve wildlife, grassland and forest land, and ensure land use conversion is properly managed and to correctly identify areas that should remain as wetlands.
ABOUT SWCDs
Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) were founded in the midst of the Dust Bowl Era to meet an educational and technical need for conservation. These districts were to hire conservation professionals who could educate and assist local land users whose farming practices were contributing to the wind and water erosion happening on rural and urban soils. In Montgomery County the district was formed in the county seat of Hillsboro in 1941. The Montgomery County SWCD is still very active in the county more than eighty years later.
The SWCD is a unit of local government which is held to state statute and is governed by a board of five elected officials who either reside in or own property within its boundaries. The board meets monthly to conduct its business. The office is staffed with one full time employee and office space is provided by its federal partner, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
CONTACT US
Montgomery Co. SWCD
1621 Vandalia Rd
Hillsboro, IL 62049
info@montswcd.com
217-532-3361, ext. 3