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Why am I getting this newsletter?

South Douglas Conservation District has changed its newsletter format and is now able to

distribute this publication to all residents of Douglas County, as well as other interested par-

ties. Although South Douglas district boundary includes the southern half of Douglas Coun-

ty, several of our programs include the entire county. Foster Creek Conservation District co-

vers the northern half of the County.

What is a Conservation District?

Unless you are a farmer, a customer of our tree sale or NCW Fair participant, you may not

know about South Douglas Conservation District or any of the other 44 districts in the State.

Conservation Districts are local government entities. Originally established by the Washington State Legislature in 1939, they are

governed by a local volunteer board of supervisors, both elected and appointed. Non-

regulatory, they help people care for our natural resources. Farms, forests, urban or

rural lands as well as rivers, lakes and coastlines can benefit. Conservation Districts

help with erosion control, habitat restoration, wildfire prevention, noxious weed con-

trol, windbreak establishment, irrigation efficiency and more. South Douglas can help

with technical assistance, resource suggestions, or cost share projects. If we can’t help,

we can guide you to someone who can.

Manure Compost Cost Share Project

South Douglas News South Douglas Conservation District

Assisting cooperators to adopt, implement and promote conservation practices

which encourage good land stewardship and the protection of natural resources.

2017

Tree and

Shrub

Sale

Volume 1—Issue 1

Winter 2017

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It’s not a question of it, but when

fire threatens your home and prop-

erty. South Douglas is the sponsor

for Firewise in Douglas County.

We can do free assessments on

your property to see where you

might lessen the threat of fire.

Through several grants we can provide cost share assistance in

thinning forest lands as well as other vulnerable plantings. A Com-

munity Wildfire Protection Plan was developed in 2013 that ad-

dresses fire prone areas in the county, fire history, proposed pro-

jects and prevention. Douglas County doesn’t have the communi-

ties that are nestled in the woods, like Chelan or Okanogan County.

Hence, the Firewise Community designation for a neighborhood

may not be possible in your area. But the prevention and preserva-

tion practices are important to all homes and properties. Our next

newsletter will focus on Firewise practices and pointers for the up-

coming fire season.

Vets on the Farm

S outh Douglas is developing Vets on the Farm, similar to a new program in Spokane Conservation District.

Striving to match veterans to those involved in the agriculture industry. Often returning veterans have skills

that could support them with opportunities for education, partnership, and employment in conservation based

businesses.

The challenge is to inform veterans of possibilities for careers in agriculture and finding mentors and employers

who are willing to work with these veterans who have served us. Several Conservation Districts throughout the

state are beginning this program. If you are a veteran or interested in the program, please give us a call.

Annual Tree and Shrub Sale

N ative and adapted trees , shrubs and flowers are available

at our annual sale. Plants are pre-ordered and picked

up at the NCW Fairgrounds first Saturday in April. More plants

are available for “impulse” buyers the day of the sale. Most plants

are potted, but some are available bare root. The catalog should

be up on the website mid February, or

call the office for a mailing.

The best time to plant a tree is

20 years ago—the second best time

is now. (Chinese proverb)

S outh Douglas CD now has a website. We hope you will be

able to use the website to find out what we are doing. Check the

Waterville weather, read the meeting minutes and agenda, look at

the cost share projects we have funded, past newsletters, current

events and links to other useful sites.

Southdouglascd.org is the address. If you go to the home page,

you will see we need to get some photos of Douglas County

Washington. (When it was developed, our designer used a photo

of Douglas County, Colorado) If you have some good photos of

South Douglas CD, we would like to use them on our home page.

The size would need to be large (1000 x 1000) We can make a pho-

to smaller but the larger pixel count

makes for a sharper picture. We

will give you credit for the photo

if we use it.

Website Up and running

Cost share projects

What do We do?

S outh Douglas CD provides cost share funding for

a variety of practices. Support for windbreaks, wild-

life habitat, livestock waterers, terraces, dams, irri-

gation efficiencies and other Best Management prac-

tices have been provided for cooperators within the

district. Natural resource conservations is the decid-

ing factor in funding. Project applications are avail-

able on the website or call the office.

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What’s your address?

T hanks to a grant from the Bureau of Land Management, South Douglas has available free blue reflective address signs for 100 Douglas County residents. The address can be vertical or horizontal. Emergency vehicles, including fire trucks, can have a hard time finding your residence that may be hidden from the main road. Chelan County Fire District #1 will make these signs for us. If you need an address sign, call Carol at 745-9160 so she can or-der one for you.

T his book highlights 20 noxious and troublesome weeds in Douglas County. It will fit into a pocket or bag and helps you identify plants when you are out in the field or garden. It pre-sents options for control and/or eradication of the non-desirable plant species. You can download it on our website, or call the office for a hard copy.

Weather Station

B ack in 2007 South Douglas funded a weather station for the Waterville School. Perched on top of the courthouse in Waterville, it was hard to maintain and deliver accurate weather information. Thanks to Barnes Welding our at the Waterville Air-port the station has been moved to a much better lo-cation. A link on our website will take you to Weather Underground for current conditions and forecasts.

Chipping Event

N ovember was a good time for our first chipping event on Badger Mountain. Four landowners had piles and limbs to chip and Wildlife Home Protection LLC did a great job. We learned how not to stack a pile of branches and some good tips for nest time. We are planning a chipping day in early spring. If you are interested in fuels reduction, let us know. The chipping events are free. If you have thinning or other fire prevention projects in mind, we also have cost share dollars availa-ble.

GPS UNITS TO FIRE DISTRICTS

S outh Douglas was able to purchase two GPS units for each fire district in Douglas County to use during fire season. The units allow emergency crews to talk to one another when other frequencies are

jammed and have maps that show property ownership. While they were not needed for the 2016 fire season, they will be an im-portant asset during fire emergencies.

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206 N Chelan, Waterville, WA 98858 (509) 745-9160 •

www.southdouglascd.org

SAGE GROUSE INITIATIVE

Douglas County is known for its diverse

landscape, friendly faces, and plentiful natural resources.

For generations, families have forged a life here, with

farming and ranching shaping the backbone of this

community. NRCS created the Sage Grouse Initiative

(SGI), a voluntary, incentives based program, specifically

designed for communities like those found in Douglas

County. Funding for SGI comes from Farm Bill

Conservation Programs to sustain working rangelands

and wildlife resources across the landscape.

Privately owned rangelands constitute some of

the most productive and intact habitats available not just

for greater sage-grouse, but also the 350 sagebrush

steppe species that require these ecosystems for survival.

Therefore, private landowners are among the most

valued stewards of the land. To demonstrate the

importance of those landscapes and the ranching

tradition, NRCS and our partners launched SGI 2.0 in

2016, which NRCS alone committed $211 million dollars

to for life of the new Farm Bill.

With various partners, NRCS identified core

areas surrounding known greater sage-grouse leks,

which will be the focus of SGI in Douglas County for the

next several years. NRCS will allocate approximately

75% of funding to enroll acres within this core area.

They will use the remaining 25% to enroll acres in

adjacent areas with suitable habitat.

When producers enroll in SGI, they realize

benefits such as improved functionality of the operation;

financial security to prevent the need to subdivide; and

once enrolled, they receive 30 years of assurance to

continue their approved practices, whether the greater

sage-grouse become listed or not. Producers can select

from several practices to incorporate into their

conservation plan. Developing a prescribed grazing

plan; installing cross fences, pipelines, and watering

facilities; developing springs; and establishing range

plantings are a few common practices producers choose.

While SGI traditionally partners with ranchers, SGI Crop

is now available to farmers who wish to plant cropland

back to permanent cover to improve soil health and/or

remove unwanted fences.

For more information about SGI or SGI Crop, call

or visit Lisa Dowling or Julie Unfried at the USDA

Waterville Service Center (509) 745-8561.

South Douglas Conservation District

Board of Supervisors Eddie Greer, Chair Linda Daling, Vice Chair Jeff Rock, Auditor Eileen Bone, Member Joe Sprauer, Member Terry Besel, Associate Ken Borders, Associate Neil Irmer, Associate Glenn Ludeman, Associate

The Conservation Quarterly is published on a

quarterly basis by South Douglas Conservation

District. This newsletter is funded in part by

grants from the Washington State Conservation

Commission, and the Bureau of Land

Management., other public and private

granting entities.

Please Remember to Recycle

Staff Member Carol Cowling, Coordinator southdouglascd@conservewa.net

USDA Announces Enrollment Period for Safety Net Coverage in 2017

Producers on farms with base acres under the safety net programs established by

the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss

Coverage (PLC) programs, can begin contacting FSA county offices to sign con-

tracts and enroll for the 2017 crop year. The enrollment period will continue until

Aug. 1, 2017.

Since shares and ownership of a farm can change year-to-year, producers on the

farm must enroll by signing a contract each program year.

If a farm is not enrolled during the 2017 enrollment period, the producers on that

farm will not be eligible for financial assistance from the ARC or PLC programs

for the 2017 crop should crop prices or farm revenues fall below the historical

price or revenue benchmarks established by the program. Producers who made

their elections in 2015 must still enroll during the 2017 enrollment period.

The ARC and PLC programs were authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and offer a

safety net to agricultural producers when there is a substantial drop in prices or

revenues for covered commodities. Covered commodities include barley, canola,

large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mus-

tard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice

(which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans,

sunflower seed and wheat. For more details regarding these programs, go to

www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

F or more information, producers are encouraged to contact the Douglas

County FSA office at (509) 745-8561.

One of our partners is the Farm Service Agency. They will

provide occasional articles to this newsletter.

You might want to check out these websites:

Foster Creek Conservation District—fostercreekcd.org

Cascadia Conservation District—cascadiacd.org

Okanogan Conservation District– okanogancd.org

These districts are adjacent to South Douglas and have conservation programs

and information you might find useful.

To learn more about protecting your home from wildfire damage contact Carol Cowling. We offer FREE fire risk as-sessments, chipping programs, assistance for Firewise Pro-jects, and cost-share assistance when funding is available.