Soil & Water Conservation District Guidebook 2008 - Minnesota ...

Pictured: This trail is part of the Carlton SWCD’s school forest
project, giving nearly 5,000 students access to a hands-on
environmental education facility.
A 40-acre school forest project for the
Carlton School District has been developed by the
SWCD. The MN DNR Lake Superior Coastal Program
has provided funding support of over $70,000, which
was matched by a local share of over $70,000 to build
a trail system, construct a gathering pavilion and rest
room facility, and construct a ready-to-use, multi-grade/
multi-discipline environmental education curriculum
for the facility. 4,800 students from surrounding school
districts will have access to the facility.
Annual EQIP signup has been strong.
The SWCD leads the Local Work Group to set priorities
and refers landowners to the program for conservation
implementation. The SWCD also provides technical assistance
to EQIP program participants for project design and
implementation. The SWCD assists in allocation of over
$200,000 in EQIP funds in addition to the SWCD’s annual
state Cost-Share allocation of $12,000. The SWCD also
applies for and often receives special allocations for specifi
c projects such as the Midway River and Nemadji River
watershed projects.
A farm bill technician was hired to work
for the Carlton SWCD and two neighboring SWCDs. The
Carlton SWCD led the effort to jointly hire this employee,
who focuses on delivering technical assistance to the agriculture
sector.
Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Carlton Soil & Water Conservation District
The Nemadji River Basin project is
wrapping up its fourth grant and beginning to plan for the
TMDL work ahead. The SWCD will lead the TMDL study
project for a turbidity TMDL on the entire Nemadji River
Basin. The study project is scheduled for three phases and
should be completed in 5-6 years. The study project will
be followed by a focused implementation effort to address
load allocation issues identifi ed in the study.
The SWCD maintains good working
relationships with the Carlton County Board of Commissioners
and Carlton County department staff as partners
in conservation implementation. The SWCD has provided
design assistance and funding for erosion control
measures on county highway improvement projects. The
SWCD holds tour and meetings to highlight conservation
projects throughout the county.
Nemadji River turbidity TMDL
Private Land Forest Management county wide
Livestock Management county wide
Midway River water temperature issues
Big Sandy Watershed management
Future Projects
Biomass utilization: The SWCD will be working
with partners to develop a biomass utilization project.
There is a lot of biomass in the form of grasses, brush,
and larger woody products available for harvest if a
processing facility was in place to utilize it. Post-processing
markets for the energy or pellet-type products
also need to be developed. The SWCD can provide
sources of the biomass materials and provide land
management planning in conjunction with supply
contracts.
Green building for SWCD and partner agencies:
The SWCD will also be pursuing construction of a
“green building” to house SWCD and partner agency
operations. The plan is to include geothermal, wind,
and solar energy components. Green energy concepts
will be demonstrated at a small business size level and
promoted through live web links to real time energy
use data, facility tours, and informational seminars.
21