FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- PRESS RELEASE Contact: Brad Wenz, Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, (320)251-7800 ext. 3

CONSERVATION TOUR SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 15TH 

The Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will be conducting a bus tour of conservation projects and practices on Wednesday, June 15th, 2016. The tour will allow participants to get a close look at a wide range of practices that are being implemented for soil erosion control and pollution abatement in both rural and urban Stearns County.

“We are really opening up the tool box with this tour to show people what can be done to solve resource problems on their land”, said Dennis Fuchs, SWCD Administrator. Dennis said that the SWCD and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) completed several erosion control projects that resulted from the spring storms of 2012, 2013 and 2014.

“We want to show farmers how to protect their land from these severe storm events that are becoming more and more common”. He recalled the 4 inch in 1 hour deluge that slammed the St. Martin area on May 26, 2014. “When a storm like that hits around planting time it causes incredible damage from gully erosion, sedimentation, and flooding.”

One tour stop will be at a farm, located in the path of that storm, where a coordinated system of structural practices and CRP cover seeding were installed to fix the damage and prevent or minimize future erosion. In addition to the St. Martin project mentioned, participants will view a large streambank stabilization project on the Sauk River, storm water infiltration features in Stratford Addition in the City of Avon, a strip-till/no-till system near Albany, a Prescribed Grazing system near St. Martin, a gully control project near Richmond, and two feedlot runoff and manure management systems on farms near St. Martin and Rockville.“This is a great opportunity to see what our citizens are doing to prevent erosion, keep our waters clean, and maintain productive land,” said Fuchs.

Participants are asked to meet in the west parking lot at the Stearns County Service Center on County Highway 138 (west of Mills Fleet Farm) by 8:15 AM. Please note that this is the Stearns County Service Center, NOT the USDA Service Center in Marketplace of Waite Park. The bus leaves the County Service Center at 8:30 AM and returns to the Service Center at about 4:45 PM. Lunch and refreshments will be provided free of charge, courtesy of AgStar Financial Services, ACA of Waite Park.

The SWCD is asking people to RSVP by calling 320-251-7800, ext. 3 by June 8th. For more information visit the SWCD website: www.stearnscountyswcd.net.