Richland County Conservation and Weed District Annual Meeting

Richland County Conservation and Weed District will hold their annual supper on December 5, 2013. Supper will be served at 6:00 pm at the Richland County Event Center. Highlighting this year's event will be Jon Reiten, MT Bureau of Mines and Geology discussing his findings on Phase 2 of the Lower Yellowstone Ground Water Reservation-Development Potential of Buried Channel Aquifer in Richland County, Montana. Jon has been collecting data on this aquifer since 2005. His talk will focus on the potential of the aquifer for development.

Mandi Nay, Coordinator for Dry-Redwater Rural Water Authority (DRWA) will be updating the audience on the progress of the DRWA in Richland County.

The Conservation District will share some of the success stories of Richland County's cost share program. The cost share program will be continued in 2014. The deadline for 2014 applications is February 28th, 2014. Applications are available at the Conservation District. A new service the conservation district will be offering is the availability of purchasing biological control for some noxious weeds. Students from Lambert High school will share some of their experiences with the Envirothon and Lambert's Launch It Program.

The Conservation District will be presenting their award for Cooperator of the Year for 2013. Kenneth and Pam Arneson were chosen to receive the award this year. Kenneth and Pam have implemented several conservation practices on their ranch. The have planted the cropland back to grass using pollinator friendly mixes, native mixes and tame grass mixes. With the help of the conservation districts they planted trees for a livestock shelterbelt and renovated a windbreak. Kenneth and Pam actively work on controlling the noxious weeds on their acreage. With the development of a spring they were able to install 4700 feet of pipeline and four water tanks. The stockwater pipelines and 9000 feet of new wildlife friendly fence enable them to manage their calving to occur during times when the nutritional forage is available. They are also actively involved in monitoring their rangeland and rotate the feeding areas in the winter months. By working with Texas A&M's NUTBAL program they are able to monitor the nutrient conditions in their cattle's diet to determine if the current diet is sufficient to meet the performance goals they have set. Using the Conservation Districts cost share program they were able to purchase and install tanks for winter watering facilities and livestock shelters. The conservation district is proud to name them the 2103 Co-operators of the year.

Everyone is welcome; cost for the supper is $10.00. RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary to attend. Contact the Richland County Conservation District at 433-2103x101 for more information.