Dateline: January 22, 2004

SWCD plans program development meeting

As a result of the 2002 Farm Bill the Donley County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) in Clarendon has been given the charge to lead the way in developing programs and initiatives to improve soil and water resources at the local level.

“The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) authorizes a locally driven process, coordinated by conservation districts, to guide and set local priority resource concerns and program direction. It provides tremendous opportunities for local people to become involved in assessing local resource needs,” said Dick Bode, chairman of the SWCD.

EQIP is the USDA cost-share program to assist farmers and ranchers address their resource-based concerns and problems.

According to Bode, the process deals with developing a list of concerns for the long and short range EQIP planning and development.

To enact the EQIP on the local level, the Donley SWCD, in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will conduct a program development group meeting with its conservation partners and interested persons or organizations on February 5, 2004, at 1:00 p.m. in the Clarendon College Courson RFO Center, RFO classroom.

The Courson RFO Center is located on the campus of Claredon College, south of the Bairfield Activity Center. For additional information call (806) 874-3576 ext. 3.

The purpose of the meeting is to conduct a local conservation needs assessment and make program recommendations on what problems the SWCD in conjunction with the Local Work Group should address in future years. Local recommendations will then flow to the Local Work Group where the district’s technical issues, resource priority area, and program policies will be reviewed and integrated into the state, regional, and national programs.

“We are really excited about the opportunities the new EQIP offers because Congress is seeking our leadership to assist our community in carrying out a conservation program that wisely invests public resources to protect local natural resources,” Bode said.