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Restore Soil and Water Conservation District Funding to FY 2024 Levels
Illinois’ 97 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) experienced a substantial funding shortfall in the FY 2025 state budget. SWCD operations funding was reduced by $4 million from $8.5 million in FY 24 to $4.5 million in FY 25. The shortfall will lead to the loss of trained and qualified Soil and Water Conservation District employees which will take years of training to replace. Without sufficient funding, employees, much like unprotected soil, will erode away.
Piatt County SWCD will be collecting signatures in support of restoring FY 25 SWCD operations funding to level funding based on FY 24 funded appropriations.
Stop by our office at 1209 Bear Lane, Monticello IL to sign a paper copy of the petition in support of restoring funding, OR fill out the online petition using this survey website: www.surveymonkey.com/r/FundSWCDs
Come see us at the farmers’ market this Thursday, June 20th from 3-6pm!
PCSWCD will have a booth with informational brochures, our newsletter, fish/tree sale order forms, coloring books for the kids and other goodies.
Check out this link for more information about the Monticello Farmers’ Market: https://monticellomainstreet.org/farmersmarket
The SWCD Partners for Conservation (PFC) program has funding available for the 2023 fiscal year left and is looking for Piatt County residents interested in implementing conservation projects with 75% PCSWCD cost-share!
Projects that are still eligible for 2023 PFC cost-share assistance include: Pollinator planting conservation cover, well decommissioning, mulching for erosion control, and rain gardens to control runoff.
Cover cropping, no/strip-till, terraces, grassed waterways, denitrifying bioreactors, subsurface drainage, and other conservation programs are still included in the PFC cost-share program, but are more likely to be completed and paid out in fiscal year 2024 or beyond.
For more informaion, contact PCSWCD Resource Conservationist Bri Sosa Gates at 217-762-2146 ext. 115 or Brianne.Gates@il.nacdnet.net
Congratulations to Mark Clodfelter for submitting the winning photo in our plat book photo contest! Thank you Mark for this beautiful photo of sunflowers in Piatt County, and thank you to everyone who participated! We had so many wonderful photos it was hard to choose just one.
Look out for our new 2024 plat books featuring Mark’s photo on the cover available this July!
Visit the USDA Service Center in Monticello from 8am – 6pm this week M-F for pollinator friendly perennials!
$12 each (cash/check only), species include: Black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta), Orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida), Sweet coneflower (Rudbeckia subtomentosa), Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Prairie ironweed (Veronica fasciculata), Great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), Leatherwood fern (Dryopteris marginalis), Lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), Blue wild indigo (Baptisia australis), White wild indigo (Baptisia alba)
Orders for our spring fish sale will be ready for pick up Friday, April 12th 2024 at 1:00pm at the USDA Service Center (1209 Bear Lane, Monticello). Fish will be bagged upon pick up for air and water quality during transportation. Important: If picking up catfish, please bring pond water in a 5-gallon bucket or tote with lid.
Order forms for our 2024 spring fish sale are due April 5th! Please submit completed forms to the USDA Service Center in Monticello or by email to Julie.Chumbley@il.nacdnet.net or piattswcd@gmail.com
Fish pick up will be April 12th at 1209 Bear Lane, Monticello from 12:00-1:00pm
The Piatt County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors meeting scheduled for February 21st, 2024 has been canceled due to scheduling conflicts. The next Board of Directors meeting will be held on March 20th, 2024 at 8am.