ASHLAND — One of the things that makes local soil and water conservation districts so unique and so effective is that priorities and programs are locally driven.
That’s why Ashland Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is partnering the the Ashland Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Ashland Farm Bureau to host a local work group discussion to help identify what those local priorities should be.
While local work groups have a long-standing history in developing local program priorities with both SWCDs and NRCS, the COVID-19 pandemic put those public meetings and discussions on hold. However, a renewed focus has been placed on those meetings for 2023.
“Local work groups provide an opportunity for farmers and community members within Ashland County to come together and talk about local conservation efforts and provide feedback to our Ashland SWCD board as well as local and state NRCS officials,” said Jane Houin, Ashland SWCD director.
“It’s an opportunity for them to say, ‘Yes, we feel good about the priorities and direction of our local conservation programming,’ or an opportunity for them to say, ‘Hey, I think you may be missing this area and we should be looking at this as a priority moving forward.”
This year, local farmers and community members will have two opportunities to provide feedback in the local work group setting.
The first will be March 29 during the Conservation Chat: The CAUV Scoop taking place at 6 p.m. at Round Lake Christian Assembly outside of Lakeville.
This event is free to the public but preregistration is encouraged. Participants will not only have the chance to provide feedback on local conservation priorities, but they will also hear from state farm bureau policy leaders on changes and considerations with it comes to current agricultural use value (CAUV) of property and to ask questions to Ashland County Auditor Cindy Funk and Holmes County Auditor Jackie McKee.
Ashland SWCD is also providing an ice cream sundae bar for the event.
The second opportunity will be April 14 at the Ashland County Farm Bureau Policy Development Breakfast at Beuhler’s in Ashland at 7:30 a.m. This is a great opportunity to not only provide feedback to Ashland SWCD and NRCS, but to also suggest priority policies for Ashland County Farm Bureau. Reservations can be made at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGiz4TCKAx_W2E6Mm9m5B2unfucTX3WMjPwEANW0vNHkeIvQ/viewform
For more information or an opportunity to submit conservation priorities for consideration for those unable to attend one of the two in-person meetings, contact Ashland SWCD at 419-281-7645 or by email at ashlandswcd@ashlandcounty.org.
