Posted: 7/27/05
Conservation tour shows good and bad practices
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
It was kind of a good news-bad news conservation trip.
The 11 people who received a guided tour of county conservation projects on July 19 saw many different types of projects.
Root River Soil and Water Conservation District manager Ralph Tuck pointed out water diversions around feedlots, grass waterways, and different kinds of terraces as he rode in the front seat of Wilfred Pohlmanís 15 passenger van.
Yet Tuck had some somber observances. He pointed out fields of soybeans that were planted in contour with corn. Thatís not an effective erosion control, he said. ìErosion rates have really gone backward over the last 15 years,î Tuck said.
And the U.S. government is promoting it, county commissioner Dave Corcoran said. Farmers are penalized if they donít plow up hayland three out of five years, he said.
ìIt isnít saving the land,î county commissioner Ann Thompson said.
Cattle users are criticized by some people, but they use hayland, and thatís a good practice, SWCD supervisor Vernon Fruechte said.
Tuck said he will sometimes send letter to farmers saying their practices are not sustainable and they should look at some solutions. That will sometimes bring results, he said, but his hands really are tied.
But even with all that worrisome conversation, the positive practices that the group observed left a good impression. They seemed to be on every beautiful rolling hill and dale.
Tuck pointed out many good contour strips of hay. He showed us a tree planting at one farm, and roof gutters on another that diverted water from a feedlot.
He explained some geological effects too, like the Decorah edge of limestone that stops water from going through it.
We drove through the Bear Creek Watershed, and saw some structures from that project south of Spring Grove on Iowa state line. The project will eventually have 65 water structures, 22 in Minnesota and 43 in Iowa.
At one spot that we stopped, Tuck pointed out ponds, waterways funded by two different agencies, a buffer section of grass, and some future structures.
The role of Root River SWCD is to blend the programs together. ìThatís a goal that we strive for, but we donít always get everybody,î Tuck said. He pointed to a parcel on a map which had an uncooperative landowner. You canít force people to participate in programs like this, he repeated, even though there is a lot of cost sharing money.
We stopped at the end of the tour to look at a brand new grade stabilization pond in Blackhammer Township. It had a pipe near the top of the bank. Once water goes two feet over the pipe, it spills over on one side and flows into the gully below without creating an erosion problem.
It stabilizes the steep grade, providing runoff and erosion control, Tuck said ìThe structure works whether it has water in it or not.î
It will last at least 35 years before eventually filling with sediment, which is its purpose, Tuck added.
An alphabet soup of conservation programs
Here are the federal, state and local conservation programs that the Root River Soil and Water Conservation District works with.
ï RIM: Reinvest in Minnesota, a land retirement program.
ï EQIP: Environmental Quality Incentives Program, cost share for installation of practices to properly managed soil, water, air, plants, and animals. Houston County had a 2004 allocation of $325,860, and a 2005 allocation of $489,089.
ï CRP: Conservation Reserve Program, a land retirement program for wildlife habitat. Houston County has 16,532 active acres in CRP.
ïCCRP: Continuous Conservation Reserve Program, retires most sensitive land in conjunction with working land such as waterways, buffer strips, and riparian filter strips.
ï CREP: Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, a new program that combines federal CRP with state RIM program.
ï CSP: Conservation Security Program, a new program by watershed only that rewards farmers who have been meeting stringent criteria. The 2005 Houston County Root River Watershed applications totaled $1,585,974 for 28 applicants.
ï PL-566: a small watershed assistance program for Crooked Creek and Bear Creek.
ï There is also a local water management plan, plus challenge grants and a revolving loan fund for septic systems and erosion control.
Caledonia Argus
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