haywood soil and water Conservation district

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1 haywood soil and water Conservation district Annual report Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District 589 Raccoon Road, Suite 203 Waynesville, NC Phone: (828) , Extension 3 1

2 Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District Monthly Board Meetings: Second Tuesday of each month, 9:00 a.m. Downstairs Conference Room, 589 Raccoon Road, Waynesville Board of Supervisors Carlyle Ferguson Bill Yarborough James Ferguson Robert Cathey Charles Boyd District Staff Chairman V. Chairman Treasurer Secretary Member Leslie Smathers Duane Vanhook Kila Thompson Gail Heathman Ron Morris Ryan Manning Department Director Soil and Water Conservationist Soil and Water Conservationist NC Ag Cost Share Technician Administrative Services/Finance Officer Education Coordinator Area I Engineering Technician GIS/GPS Technician John Ottinger District Conservationist M ission Statement: Protect the natural resources of Haywood County through education, financial and technical assistance. 2

3 Conservation Programs Assisting Landowners Land owners received technical guidance and financial assistance through both state and federal programs available at the District amounting to $476,996 during the fiscal year. State programs are administered by Duane Vanhook, Ag Cost Share technician and soil conservationist. State Funding $ 95, North Carolina Agricultural Cost Share Program $ 44,046 Impaired/Impacted Streams $ 13,815 Impaired Stream Initiative $ 9,450 Community Conservation Assistance Program $ 2,925 Agricultural Water Resources Assistance Program $ 25,343 Best Management Practices Installed During PY 2014 Bioretention Area 1,000 square feet Heavy Use Areas Livestock Exclusion Livestock Pipeline Spring Development 1 Watering Facilities 1 Wells and Pumps 1 Underground Storage Tank square yards 420 linear feet 300 linear feet Federal programs are administered by District Conservationist John Ottinger (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). Federal Funding $ 381, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) & Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) 23 active contracts 37applied practices 785 contracted acres The District pursues grant funding from various sources to help further its efforts in projects like stream bank restoration, conservation easements and education programs. 3

4 Farmland Protection for Haywood County Landowners Why is farmland protection important to Haywood County? In North Carolina, agriculture and related businesses are worth more than $74 billion per year, making it North Carolina s #1 industry! However, the past few years North Carolina has led the nation in the loss of farms. If this continues, it will mean losing farm-related income plus less available fresh food, wildlife habitat, and much more. However, the District provides four ways to protect farmland in Haywood County: 1. Voluntary Ag Districts (VAD): A 10 year voluntary agreement 2. Enhanced Voluntary Ag Districts (EVAD): Voluntary, but with a 10 year written recorded agreement 3. Term Easements: Any number of years over ten 4. Permanent Easements: Forever farmland stays with the land no matter who owns it. Haywood County Agricultural Easements Voluntary Ag Districts (VAD) acres: 10,967 Enhanced Voluntary Ag District (EVAD) acres: 1,952 Term Easements: 723 acres (dollar value, $1,374,063) Permanent Conservation Easements 3,300 acres (dollar value, $4, ) Total acres 16,942 Total dollar amount permanent easements: $6,136, The landowner is not the only one who benefits from VADs we all do. VADs help conserve the things we all love about Haywood County. Whether it s the heritage of each individual community, the beautiful views Western NC is known for, clean air and water that improve our lives as well as those of the wildlife found here, conservation is important. And when it comes to the local economy, VADs can mean more local jobs, farm products, tax income and tourism while minimizing the infrastructure burden on the local government. The VAD and EVAD programs as well as conservation easements are handled by Leslie Smathers with assistance by Ryan Manning. 4

5 CONSERVATION EDUCATION The District offers a year-round program for a variety of age groups Gail Heathman is the District s education coordinator. Her job includes ordering and distributing educational resource materials such as booklets and posters to teachers, communicating with teachers and students regarding the five contests offered by the District and coordinating events like field days, the YES Camp, the Area Envirothon and Awards Night. She produces a newsletter for educators, writes about educational events and serves on the Area 1 Education Committee and the State Envirothon Committee. Gail has been a certified environmental educator (EE) for the past ten years through the NC Office of Environmental Education. Program Fifth Grade Conservation Field Day Our 33rd year! Youth Environmental Stewardship (YES) Camp - 2 Weeks Area 1 Envirothon North Carolina Envirothon Contests: Poster, Essay, Slide Show, Speech & Computer Designed Poster Area FFA Land Judging Competition Resource Conservation Workshop at NCSU Pink Francis Memorial Scholarship Haywood Community College Enviroscape Presentations for 906 students Resource Materials Distributed (posters, booklets, bookmarks, etc.) Particles and Droplets Teacher Newsletter, also on the District s web site Number 560 students 36 students 8 teams 4 teams 432 entries 14 teams 2 students 1 annually 39 presentations 1285 items 600 distributed The YES Camp has been offered two weeks each summer to middle school students for the past 15 years. These students learned that a variety of types of aquatic insects mean better water quality. High school students Jacob Hunt and Samantha Beasley were chosen to spend a week attending the Resource Conservation Workshop at NCSU. 5

6 CONSERVATION EDUCATION, con t. Contests? We offer FIVE! From Posters to Essays to Public Speaking to PowerPoint Presentations to Computer Designed Posters, students were offered a variety of ways to show what they know! In October the District sponsored its 32nd Conservation Field Day, attended by 560 fifth graders. The day features 10 stations manned by resource professionals from several partner agencies as well as nonprofits and is held at the Mountain Research Station. The District appreciates Kaleb Rathbone and staff at the Station as well as the many resource people for their help and support! Below, kids get a taste of being Forest rangers with Matthew Hooper by dressing up during Field Day. FFA Area Land Judging 6 Area 1 Envirothon: 1st Place Team! Tuscola High s Finest Scientists

7 CONSERVATION TEACHERS OF THE YEAR Sharon Flowe Tuscola High School Teachers play a vital role when it comes to implementing our education programs, serving as the link between the District and students. This year Sharon Flowe, environmental science teacher at Tuscola High, was an easy choice for Conservation Teacher of the Year. Sharon is involved in several of the District s activities including Envirothon and the YES Camp. We also had the pleasure of seeing last year s District winner, Janet Frazier, chosen as State Conservation Teacher of the Year. Janet was honored during the 2014 Annual Meeting of the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, held in Asheville at the Omni Grove Park Inn. Janet Frazier Central Elementary School DISTRICT RECEIVES COMMUNITY PRIDE AWARD In February The Commission for a Clean County recognized the District and science teacher Mark Ethridge for their efforts in educating the younger generation about the importance of a clean environment through the Youth Environmental Stewardship (YES) Camp. They were nominated by Stephen King, Director of Recycling and Solid Waste. The Haywood County Landfill and the Materials Recovery Facility are among the places YES Campers visit each summer in order to better understand the importance of recycling. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES Kila Thompson serves as the Administrative Services/Finance Officer, managing the local and state funds surrounding the Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District and the Area I Agriculture Engineer. She endorses a very active five-member Board of Supervisors and a five- member staff; arranging travel on the local, state and national level and coordinating numerous meetings on a monthly basis but that does not begin to describe the wide variety of supportive roles she plays. Kila is often working behind the scenes If you ve attended Awards Night, the Annual Interagency Meeting/Fish Fry where local and state leaders gather or any number of meetings that were made more comfortable by her flair for adding a few extra touches to make everyone feel special and more relaxed, you ve seen the gift Kila has when it comes to people. 7

8 T he very first soil and water conservation district in the country was established in North Carolina 76 years ago! It took the devastation of the Dust Bowl for Americans to grasp how vitally important a natural resource soil actually is. Sixty-one years ago, the Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District was established. The Board of Supervisors and staff remain committed to technical assistance and education so that citizens of Haywood County are able to enjoy the many benefits that clean water and productive soil bring to all our lives. We don t achieve these things alone; the District works closely with a number of other natural resource agencies, non-profits and other professionals. The District also belongs to a partnership that includes: The NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts The Division of Soil and Water Conservation (NCDA&CS) The North Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Commission The North Carolina Conservation District Employees Association The North Carolina Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District is a member of: The Area I Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts The North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts The National Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Special thanks go to: The Haywood County Board of Commissioners and the County Manager Davis Ferguson and Rob Baldwin, our Western Regional Coordinators ( Division of Soil and Water Conservation, NCDA&CS) Kaleb Rathbone & Staff (Mountain Research Station) for allowing us to use the Station for educational events such as Conservation Field Day and the Area 1 Envirothon Southwestern NC Resource Conservation & Development The Pigeon River Fund for its support in helping fund our efforts, enabling us to do so much more for youth and the environment 8