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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Tuesday, September 2, 2008 9:13 PM CDT
Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District has busy year

The Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District is here to serve the people of Coles County.

The office is located in the Coles Business Park at 6021 Development Drive. Check them out at: www.colescountyswcd.org

The office’s no-till drills were used to plant nearly 675 acres of soybeans to help protect soil from erosion plus another 200 acres with a drill owned by Pheasants Forever. These 200 acres were on cropland that is now converted to prairie grass in environmentally sensitive areas,

Coles SWCD activities in the past year included:

- Bi-monthly newsletter mailed to nearly 700 homes.

- With Coles County Farm Bureau and Cooperative Extension Service, hosted a meeting on the history of the Illinois prairie along with information on which prairie plants will grow well in Coles County — in your backyard.

- With Illinois Department of Natural Resources, hosted a pond shocking demonstration and pond management workshop.

- Held annual tree and fish sales.

- Provided plaque for 4-H conservation winner.

-Served as a site for RSVP volunteers.

- Participated in Ag Days at the Cross County Mall.

- District personnel conducted prairie burns in the county.

- Assisted with an Envirothon competition for high school students in a six-county area.

- Worked with Quail Unlimited to distribute free wildlife seeds to plant 82 acres for wildlife food plots.

- Offered free materials to schools and churches in the county for Soil and Water Stewardship Week.

- With Coles County Farm Bureau and Cooperative Extension Service, hosted an agriculture breakfast on the topic of animal registration and premise ID registration.

- Offered all third grade students in the county a free tree for Arbor Day.

- Provided free materials and gave programs on conservation to schools in the county.

- Had water testing kits available for local homeowners to buy to test their drinking water.

- Participated in Career Days at Lake Land College.

- Directors participated in Legislative Day in Springfield.

- Provided over $22,000 in state cost-share to local landowners for conservation practices.

The SWCD office had income of $149,924.31 and expenses of $120,291.53.

In addition, in the Conservation Practices Account, the office received $24,000 from the State of Illinois. Expenses were $25,485.72.

The Coles SWCD office also has two certificates of deposit with a combined balance of $118,903.69.

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