The Bartholomew County Soil & Water Conservation District was organized on October 26, 1955. In 2015, we celebrated 60 years of conservation!
Over the years, we have expanded our focus beyond agriculture to also provide assistance in productive forests, bodies of water, and urban or industrial use. We have also expanded our base of clientele to include not only private landowners, but also other units of government such as counties, cities, townships and watershed districts.
Garrett Pevlor: Troop 559.
The District uses an area that is owned by Sycamore Land Trust for educational events called the Outdoor Lab, which is located off of 46. It has a very nice trail through the property that is open to the public from dawn until dusk. The bridges were in rough shape and we only ever used about half of the trail because none of the bridges had handrails and some were pretty high off of the ground. Cummins had taken care of half of the trail for a couple years by mulching it in the fall. This year, we had a young man, Garrett Pevlor, contact us and ask if there was anything he could for us that would help him earn his Eagle Scout status. We told him that we would like to be able to utilize the entire trail at the Outdoor Lab. Garrett went above and beyond our expectations. He, his family, and his troop, Troop 559, laid over 110 cubic yards of mulch, built 9 Bridges, and fixed many of the railings. The SWCD provided the money for the supplies and the County donated the mulch. However, all of the hard work and drive was done by Garrett and his crew. The bridges are beautiful and well-built and will make travel much safer for the little kids that will run across them. Also, they re-built many of the railings on the steep hills. They did a wonderful job!
