Kiowa Conservation District 
   `Helping People Help the Land` in Western Elbert County, Colorado

                                                                                                                                           

                                   

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                 About Us    District History    Board of Supervisors    Contact Info  Seedling Tree Program    

         Conservation Happenings!

******SMALL ACREAGE WORKSHOP March 6, 2010 information******

2010 Seedling Tree Program!

The 2010 seedling tree program order forms will be sent out the week of December 7th to all on our mailing list.  The Kiowa Conservation District are cooperators with the Colorado State Forest Service Nursery to offer seedling trees to landowners owning  2 or more acres and purchasing the trees and/or shrubs for conservation practices on the land such as windbreaks, shelterbelts, wildlife habitat, erosion control, etc.  A couple of new items for this year; bare root Gambel oak will be available, the nursery will also be offering a limited number of 'extra large' potted seedlings for replacement plantings in existing windbreaks.  If you are interested in participating in the 2010 program and you are not currently on our list, please send us your mailing or email address via email  and we will add you to the list.   The 2010 seedling tree order form deadline for ordering trees will be March 24, 2010.  Distribution will be April 8th in Kiowa, CO.  If you have any questions, call the office at 303-621-2070 ext. 101 or email us.  The seedling tree program information available. Order forms are now available online. PDF Order Form also available.   SOLD OUT SPECIES ARE: #10 European Sage, #218 Large Potted Fremont Cottonwood, #303 Small Potted Engelmann spruce, #305 Small Potted Ponderosa pine, #400 XLP Austrian pine and #408 XLP Ponderosa pine.

WINDBREAK WORKSHOP Scheduled for Thursday February 4, 2010 at the Frontier High School located at 589 S. Banner Street in Elizabeth.  The workshop will begin at 7:00 PM and we will be assisting landowners on designing a windbreak, selecting tree species as well as planting and care for your seedling trees.  Please call the office to RSVP at 303-621-2070 ext. 101 or email your RSVP.

Conservation Money Available
to Local Landowners

The Kiowa Conservation District Board has received a grant from the Colorado State Conservation Board that allows them to conduct a cost-share program for implementing conservation practices as they relate to list “B” noxious weed species such as Canada thistle, Diffuse knapweed, Leafy spurge, Musk thistle, Toadflax (Dalmatian and Yellow) to name a few.  

Interested landowners can apply for assistance in installing a wide variety of land resource management conservation practices like:

§          grazing management practices (Cross fencing, grass seeding for re-vegetation)

§          Tree plantings

§          noxious weed list “B” species control (see above)

To participate, the approved applicants must agree to have a conservation plan prepared by NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) to include the desired practice(s) and two additional years of management after practice installation.  The amount of cost share available for any one landowner is one-half the cost up to a maximum of $2500.00. 

Interested individuals can sign-up now with applications due by February 12, 2010.  All applicants are then ranked using criteria developed by the Conservation District Board with technical input from NRCS.  Applications are funded beginning with those with the highest ranking on down until all funds are expended.  To participate in the program, landowners need to contact Eileen at the Kiowa Conservation District office, 303 621-2070 ext. 101, or email to get an application form and/or additional information on this program. Online Application here.

 

Updated 2/4/2010

About the Kiowa Conservation District

The Kiowa Conservation District is a non-taxing, non-profit special district dedicated to the success of agricultural pursuits through the conservation of natural resources.  The district is governed by a Board of eight Supervisors who are volunteers.  We meet once a month on the third Wednesday in our office located on the northeast corner of hwy 83 and hwy 86 in Franktown.  Our office is in the same building as the Post Office.  Enter the door marked "7519" west of the Post Office door.  The meetings begin at 6:30pm in the winter.  Contact our office for up-to-date meeting times.

We work with all District residents to help them discover the value of conservation as it relates to their profits, their lives and their children's future.  

To achieve these goals, we work closely with landowners to offer individual consultations which result in recommending conservation practices like windbreaks including specific seedling trees to use, using grass seed to stop erosion, managing grazing, controlling noxious weeds, and helping with successful plantings.  In some cases financial assistance may be available to help achieve your conservation practices.  We also conduct several public seminars on various topics.

We work closely with educators and children to teach our young people about conservation.  We offer scholarships to teachers and students, conduct an annual 6th grade poster contest, and adopt classrooms which provide curriculum materials to schools.

We receive funds from several sources to help our District residents, none of which comes through direct taxation:

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A Brief History of Conservation Districts

How We Got Started
The date was late 1929, the stock market had crashed, and the Great Plains region was plunged into a severe drought. The dry, unprotected soil was ravaged by winds sending great clouds of dust rolling east across the country and out over the ocean. It was observed by members of Congress standing outside the Capitol building in Washington, DC.  Concerned individuals realized this destruction of land had to be stopped.

That year, Congress provided a fund of $160,000 to study erosion. In 1935, the Soil Conservation Act was passed which provided assistance and technical expertise to farmers and ranchers. In order to reach the local landowners, states formed soil conservation districts. Through conservation efforts, dust bowl lands were brought back into agricultural production by World War II.  Our district was formed May 17, 1941.  Since we became a district in 1941, we have always been called the Kiowa Soil Conservation District, but in 2002, the word "soil" was dropped.  The 77 Colorado "Soil" Conservation Districts took the word "soil" out of their names to more accurately reflect to the public that the district's concerns are with all natural resources, not just "soil".

Flood Protection
In 1954, Congress passed Public Law 566 to protect land from flood damages. The Kiowa Creek Watershed project was the pilot project in Colorado, and one of the first in the nation. The 67 dams built with funds from this bill in the Kiowa Conservation District are credited for saving much of the agricultural land during the devastating 1965 flood.  The district currently sponsors the operation and maintenance of 65 of these flood control dams.

Drought Protection
In 1956, after a serious drought in the Great Plains region, Congress passed the Great Plains Conservation Program. Now, cost-share funds were available to local landowners who wanted to apply conservation methods to bring their lands back into production. By going through the conservation districts and NRCS, these funds could be delivered to landowners using local agencies -- those who knew and could best serve individual landowners.  These programs were most recently renewed with the 2002 Farm Bill.

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Kiowa Conservation District Board of Supervisors and Staff

Charlie Carnahan, President

Bob Whitehead, Vice-President 

Marianne Landers, Secretary 

Barbara Fillmore, Treasurer

Jim Faughnan, Member (not pictured)

Mary Sue Liss, Member

Randy Boone, Member (not pictured)

Joanne Cook, Member 

District Manager - Eileen Rademacher

District Personnel - Pam Brewster 

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Contact Information

Telephone
303-621-2070 ext. 101
FAX
303-660-3838
Postal address
PO Box 688
Franktown, CO 80116
Office Location
7519 E. Hwy. 86
(next to Post Office in Franktown)
Franktown, CO 80116
Electronic mail
       Eileen Rademacher: eileen.rademacher@co.nacdnet.net 
Pam Brewster:  pam.brewster@co.nacdnet.net
E-mail our Webmaster with your comments.  Thank you.

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