HAPPENING NOW--->
Fall 2022 Fish Sale Set for October 20th
Orders are due by October 10th for Grass Carp
October 17th for all other species
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.
Meet our New Resource Conservationist
Gabe Osborn of Coffeen was hired as the Counties new Resource Conservationist, his first day was April 1, 2022. Osborn was born and raised in the county, with his family farming for six generations in Butler Grove Township.
Osborn attended High School in Hillsboro and was very involved in FFA, holding offices of chapter secretary and president, as well as section 19 treasurer and reporter. Osborn also earned his State and American FFA Degrees. Following graduation in 2014, Osborn attended Lake Land College in Mattoon, earning his associates in Ag. Business in 2016. During college, Gabe was employed as an intern by South Central FS in Greenville for a year, and by CPS Morrisonville for a year. Osborn also was a seasonal employee for M&M Service Company with their seed distribution facility in Litchfield, and most recently he was the Farm Broadcaster for WSMI since 2018 until his employment with the SWCD.
In Osborn's roll with the district, he will be responsible for promoting the practice of wise use of natural resources within the county. Some of those activities include the promotion of Arbor Day and Earth Day, IDNR programs for county youth, the county FFA Soil Judging contest held each October, as well as assisting the Hillsboro NRCS Office through survey work, planning, designing and reporting conservation practices.
In Osborn's free time, he is the current president of the Hillsboro FFA Alumni, a member of the Montgomery County Farm Bureau Young Leaders Committee, a volunteer fireman with the Coffeen Fire Prot. Dist., and a league bowler.
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