Implementing an Effective Invasive Species Education and Outreach Program
The Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded a small grant through the Indiana Forestry Education Foundation (IFEF). The IFEF small grants program provided funding to host a Woodland Management workshop for local residents, create interpretive signage to bring attention to the threat of invasive species locally and to coordinate volunteer eradication efforts.
Fifty-nine individuals attended the workshop with forest ownership ranging from 10 acres owned to more than 180 acres owned. Interpretive signage and a boot scrub have been placed at Camp George C. Cullom to bring attention to the threat of invasive plants to our community.
Fall Native Tree and Shrub Sale
Annually, during its Fall tree sale, the Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District offers quality native trees and shrubs to promote diversity and wildlife habitat throughout the county. The tree sale aligns with the Districts’ mission of providing services to enhance, protect, conserve and promote soil, water, and related natural resources in the County.
INfield Advantage
INfield Advantage continues to be one of the largest adaptive nutrient management farmer networks in the country (after Iowa). Local growers formed the networking group with the common interest to improve their nitrogen use efficiency in corn. In 2017, 11 local growers enrolled 32 fields in the Guided Stalk Sampling and one field was enrolled in the Replicated Strip Trial program. The Clinton County group is part of the state-wide program coordinated by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA). More information about the program and previous years’ results can be found at: www.INfieldAdvantage.org .
INFA uses aerial imagery and the Corn Stalk Nitrate Test (CSNT) to determine nitrogen use efficiency in each field enrolled. Producers are not restricted on tillage, rotation, nitrogen form, timing or rate and may enroll multiple fields. The basic level of the program is called Guided Stalk Sampling (GSS). Growers may also use INFA to conduct on-farm research using Replicated Strip Trials (RST). At the end of the year, INFA supplies each grower with the imagery and CSNT results from each field. Any fields with a Replicated Strip Trial will also have an RST report. Each grower also receives a regional report, with each field assigned an anonymous ID number.
Watershed Initiatives
Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) is an Indiana Department of Natural Resources; Division of Fish & Wildlife program. The goal of the Division of Fish & Wildlife's Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) Program is to protect and enhance aquatic habitat for fish and wildlife, and to ensure the continued viability of Indiana's publicly accessible lakes and streams for multiple uses, including recreational opportunities. This is accomplished by landowners voluntarily implementing conservation practices that reduce surface water run-off.
In 2017, the Clinton County SWCD was awarded an additional $30,000 through the IDNR, LARE Program to offer financial incentives to agricultural producers in the Browns Wonder-Sugar Creek Watershed to implement best management practices. Region 5 Model load reductions based on the 2013-2017 completed and planned work within the Brown’s Wonder-Sugar Creek watershed through the IDNR-LARE program have resulted in the following Region 5 Model load reductions: 16,892lb/yr. of Nitrogen, 8,453 lb/yr. of Phosphorus, and 6,516 ton/yr. of Sediment.
The Clean Water Indiana (CWI) Program was established to provide financial assistance to landowners and conservation groups. The financial assistance supports the implementation of conservation practices which will reduce non-point sources of water pollution through education, technical assistance, training and cost-sharing programs. The CWI fund is administered by the ISDA, Division of Soil Conservation under the direction of the State Soil Conservation Board.
The Clinton County SWCD currently has two active CWI grants in partnership with Montgomery, Boone, Tippecanoe, Carroll and Howard county Soil and Water Conservation Districts’. Project areas include the Sugar Creek Watershed and the Wildcat Creek Watershed. The focus of each of the grants is to build soil health by incorporating a system of practices such cover crops, no-till and integrated crop management (i.e. nutrient and pest management plans).
Funding has resulted in cooperating producers having voluntarily implemented 1,038 acres of cover crops and 120 acres of nutrient and pest management planning. Region 5 Model load reductions for these projects are estimated to be 3,908 lbs/yr. of Nitrogen, 1,956 lbs/yr. of Phosphorus, and 1,486 tons/yr. of Sediment.