soil and water conservation

Inside2-3 Crawford County Soil &

Water Conservation District 2010-2011 Annual Report

3 Staff Photos4 Tri-County Willow Creek

Watershed is in CrawfordCounty

5 Miller joins conservationstaff of Crawford County

6-7 Compliance requirements:Do you know what is inyour conservation plan?

8 Crawford County Soil andWater Conservation District is looking for a commissioner

APRIL 6, 2012SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION

Crawford County PersonnelDistrict Commissioners: William Magill, Chairper-

son; Kyle Bohnker, Charter Oak; Roger McCaffrey, Deni-son; Kelly Sonnichsen, Denison; and Judy Gronau, Vail

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS):Jay Ford, District Conservationist, Retired 12/31/2011;Pat Corey, Soil Conservationist; Scott Chapman, SoilConservation Technician; and Lynna Miller, Soil Con-servation Technician

State & District Personnel: Gene Thiedeman, Dis-trict Technician Part-time; and Barb Knudsen, Secretary,Ida and Crawford Counties

Area Natural Resources Conservation Service En-gineering Staff at Denison (Serving 6 counties):Steve Langholdt, Civil Engineering Technician; and RayBrotherton, Civil Engineering Technician

State Funding July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011

$1 Million Budget

Used for commissioners’ expense and office expenseTotal Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,000.00Supplemental Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$460.00 Commissioners’ Mileage and Expenses . . .$554.97 Meeting & Workshop Expense . . . . . . . . . .$45.00Printing Annual Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$300.00Association dues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,625.00

Balance June 30, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$-64.97* *represents commissioner’s expense not supported by state funding.

IFIP Cost-Share FundsBeginning Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00

Previous Years Obligation . . . . . . . . . . .$68,005.33 Cost Share Paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$26,390.65 Obligated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00 Returned to Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.93

Balance June 30, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00

REAP Practices Fund Beginning Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$9,827.53

Cost Share Paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00Obligated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,500.00 Returned to Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$8,327.53

Balance June 30, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00

REAP Forestry/Native Grasses FundBeginning Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,276.90

Cost Share Paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,931.21 Returned to Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$1,345.69

Balance June 30, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00

Bonding 2 Cost Share Beginning Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$98,795.66

Cost Share Paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$54,522.73Obligated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$44,272.90 Returned to Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.03

Balance June 30, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$0.00

Crawford County Soil & Water Conservation District 2010-2011 Annual Report

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District ActivitiesJanuary 1 through December 31, 2011

Commissioners conducted twelve regu-lar monthly meetings. Meetings takeplace the third Thursday of everymonth.Sonnichsen and McCaffrey took the oathof office. Cost share limits were established forterraces, basins and waterways.Commissioners attended the Spring Re-gional Meetings.The District’s tree/shrub sales programresulted in 77 trees and 750 shrubs sold.Thomas Buresh and Nolan Staley eachreceived $100 district scholarships. The commissioners awarded the follow-ing students for their poster contest en-tries: Ana Rogers, Cara Kastner, Whit-ney Weiss, Liam Carter, Grant Gaer,Ryan Ahrenholtz, Tina Thomssen, Jes-sica Thomssen, and Kaiden Barry. Commissioners requested and receivedFarm Bill 11 funds for district employee.

The district requested and receivedcounty funds for watershed structure re-pairs.McCaffrey attended the Annual Confer-ence in Des Moines.Commissioners renewed their NurseryDealer Certificate with the State of Iowa.The district hosted an East Boyer clos-ing ceremony at the Dewey Reis resi-dence in commemoration of completingthe final structure in the East Boyer Wa-tershed. The district contributed $5,000 towardsthe Reload Iowa Wildlife Biologist em-ployee that works in Crawford and Car-roll Counties.Commissioners approved open prairie,forest cover, and impoundment tax ex-emptions. The district renewed memberships withConservation Districts of Iowa, NACD,Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation,Pheasants Forever, Western Iowa Ex-perimental Farm Association and TreesForever.

Engineering staffFrom left, Ray Brotherton

and Steve Langholdt, civil en-gineering technicians, andLorne Miller, district conserva-tionist for Crawford and Idacounties. The area Natural Re-sources Conservation Serviceengineering staff at Denisonserves six counties.

Soil conservationstaff

Back, from left, Scott Chap-man, soil conservation tech-nician; Pat Corey, soil conser-vationist; and Gene Thiede-man, part-time technician.Front, from left, Barb Knudsen,State Secretary, Ida andCrawford Co.; Jay Ford, dis-trict conservationist (retired);and Lynna Miller, soil conser-vation technician.


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New effortseeks damsites inCrawfordCounty

Following the May2007 storm and associat-ed flooding damage inthe Willow Creek Water-shed basin, the Tri-Coun-ty Willow Creek Water-shed was formed.

The Harrison, Monona,and Crawford County Soiland Water ConservationDistricts, all three CountyBoards of Supervisors,The H&P Drainage Dis-trict and the city of Mis-souri Valley all sponsorthe Tri-County WillowCreek Watershed.

Since that time the Har-rison county sponsorshave worked with theCorp of Engineers tostudy alternatives, devel-op plans and seek fund-ing for structural andnon-structural measuresthat will protect the cityof Missouri Valley.

At the same time, NRCS

has studied the uplandsand developed a plan toreduce downstreamflooding and peak flowsby retaining waters onthe landscape throughthe use of detentiondams. In the last two tothree years 18 new de-tention dams have beenbuilt in Harrison countyand two in the Mononacounty portion of the Wil-low watershed.

It is time to see if Craw-ford County can con-tribute to this effort. Let-ters were sent to potentiallandowners early inMarch. The CrawfordCounty Soil and Water

Conservation District islooking for land ownerswho are interested inbuilding a dam or knowof a site where a dam isneeded. Preferred sitesdrain at least 80 acres butprobably not more than400 acres.

Small dams offerlandowners many bene-fits including gully con-trol, water for livestock,recreation and wildlifehabitat.

Dams can be used toimprove field access andcan be placed on proper-ty lines for fencing pur-poses. All hunting andfishing rights remain

with the landowner.Conservationists expect

that approved sites willhave a 75 percent costshare package offered.The state also offers lowinterest (three percent)loans to landowners forthe remaining 25 percent.Structures of this sizerange in total cost of$40,000 to $80,000 onaverage.

If you are interested ininvestigating a watershedstructure on your farm,please visit the CrawfordCounty USDA NRCS of-fice at 3707 TimberlineDrive or call 712-263-4123, ext. #3.

Tri-County Willow Creek Watershed is in Crawford County

The Tri-County WillowCreek Watershed, a portionof which lies in southwestCrawford County (pic-tured), was formed in 2007and extends into Harrisonand Monona counties.


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Ida County native LorneMiller recently joined theCrawford County NRCS/SWCD and is now servingas the district conservation-ist. He replaced Jay Fordwho retired on January 1.

Miller grew up on a farmand uses his farming expe-rience as background towork with landowners onconservation issues.

“I always try to find away to look at things as anopportunity rather than aproblem,” Miller stated.

Miller was active in 4-Hand FFA. He commentedthat he feels his participa-tion in the Freshman Creed

Speaking Contest wassomething that changed hislife. This contest helpedhim gain the confidenceand ability to speak in frontof people.

“I remember reciting thecreed in front of as manygroups as I could in order toprepare for the contest,”Miller recalled. To his sur-prise, he brought home thegold medal from the statecompetition.

After graduating fromIda Grove High School in1980, Miller attended IowaState University where heearned a Bachelor of Sci-ence degree in agricultural

education. He added nu-merous agronomy and soilsclasses to help build a solidbackground in soil andwater conservation alongthe way.

In 1984 Miller started hiscareer as a vocational agri-culture instructor/FFA ad-visor at Jefferson.

While in Jefferson, hetaught a wide variety ofclasses, but in 1987, Millerhad an opportunity to workfor the Natural ResourcesConservation Service(NRCS) as a soil conserva-tionist. He began his dutiesin Logan, in HarrisonCounty, in July of that year.

In 1989, Miller moved toOnawa where he took overthe district conservationistduties. He served in theMonona County districtuntil 1996. At that time,Miller accepted the districtconservationist position inIda County. He has been inthis position for 15 years.

Miller now is the districtconservationist for both Idaand Crawford countiessince Ford’s retirement.

With the changing of theguard, also comes thechange of combining thecounties into a two countymanagement unit.

Miller and his wife Becky

live on the family farm acouple miles west of IdaGrove. They have two sons,JR and wife Erica Miller, ofArthur, and Taylor Miller, of

Ida Grove. Lorne and Beckyare also the proud grand-parents of three-year-oldJenna and Aiden, 7months.

When Miller is not atwork, you can find himfishing in their pond, hunt-ing pheasant and deer intheir CRP or camping andboating in Lake View.

Feel free to contact Millerat either the Ida or CrawfordCounty USDA location orby calling 712-263-4123ext 3 or 712-364-2124.Miller said he is lookingforward to serving thelandowners and operatorsin Crawford County.

Miller joins conservation staff of Crawford County

Lorne Miller


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When a producer enrolls in the 2012 government pro-gram, they are agreeing to the following requirements:certifying all cropland acreage on the farm that the pro-ducer is following a conservation plan, complying withhighly erodible land (HEL) and wetland (W) regula-tions and meeting the adjusted gross income provi-sions.

New provisions in the 2008 Farm Bill made signifi-cant changes to the level of penalties assessed to pro-ducers found with HEL violations.

Prior to 2008, producers were allowed to receive agood faith determination from the FSA County Com-mittee, complete a revised conservation plan and nopenalty was assessed unless it was a sodbuster viola-tion.

The FSA County Committee will no longer be able to

determine good faith on HEL violations without apenalty being assessed.

The new regulations mandate a minimum penalty of$1,000 and a maximum penalty of $10,000 per viola-tion per tract. The penalties will be offset against anyand all USDA program payments earned by the pro-ducer for the program year. All USDA benefits are lostby the producer if the FSA Committee cannot determinegood faith.

Lorne Miller, District Conservationist in Crawford andIda County, said it’s important that all producers knowwhat their compliance plan requires in terms of tillageand residue left on the soil surface after planting.

Structural practices such as terraces, waterways andwater and sediment control basins need to be in placeand functioning as they were designed.

As equipment has become larger another issue thatneeds to be addressed is altering terraces, especially onthe ends where producers have modified or complete-ly pushed out the terrace blocks for equipment to getaround. (See pictures at right.)

When this occurs, the terrace no longer has the waterholding capacity as designed and many times the waterrunning around the end will cause erosion.

Farmers are urged to contact the local NRCS for tech-nical help prior to modifying the terrace.

Most of the time technicians working with producerswill be able to change the end, re-design and re-blockto meet specifications.

Miller reminded landowners and operators to recog-nize the importance of doing this in a manner thatkeeps the terraces functioning as they were designed.

Compliance requirements: Do you know what is in your conservation plan?


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This terrace has beenmodified, likely to accom-modate larger equipment.However, the modificationhas removed the terraceend and reduced the struc-ture’s water holding capac-ity, leading to erosion. Suchmodifications may alsocause the producer to be inviolation of their conserva-tion plan. Conservationstaff is available to help re-structure terraces to accom-modate equipment andmaintain the structures’ effi-cacy. Photos submitted


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If you are a resident ofCrawford County and are el-igible to vote in a generalelection, you are an eligiblecandidate for election to theCrawford Soil and WaterConservation District.

Each SWCD district inIowa is made up of five com-missioners; there are 100districts in Iowa. Eachmember is elected at thegeneral election or appoint-ed to fill a vacancy. Only onecommissioner may reside inany single township.

Crawford SWCD is cur-rently short a commissionerdue to this rule and needs to

appoint a commissioner. The candidate to fill the

position may resides in anyof the following townships:Boyer, East Boyer, Goodrich,Hayes, Iowa, Jackson, Mor-gan, Nishnabotna, OtterCreek, Paradise, Soldier,Stockholm, Union, Wash-ington, Westside or Willow.

If you are interested in be-coming a Soil and WaterConservation District Com-missioner or would likemore information, pleasecontact 712-263-4123 ext.3, or visit 3707 TimberlineDrive, Denison; alternative-ly, contact one of the

presently serving commis-sioners including Kelly Son-nichsen, Bill Magill, JudyGronau and Roger McCaf-frey.The commissioner’s roleA commissioner is a vol-

unteer conservation pro-moter in the community andcounty. You are reimbursedfor expenses and protectedfrom personal liability. Youare expected to take part inregular monthly meetings,help direct federal and statecost share programs, directactivities such as field days,contests, awards programsand publicity.

Organization of the District

The Crawford County Soiland Water ConservationDistrict is responsible forleadership in the conserva-tion of soil, water and otherrelated natural resourceswithin the county. The rurallandowners of the countywho saw a need for soil con-servation organized theCrawford SWCD. The char-ter for operation of the dis-trict was granted by the stateof Iowa on July 8, 1941,which thereby recognized itas a legal subdivision of theState of Iowa.

Crawford County Soil and Water ConservationDistrict is looking for a commissioner

Conservation Accomplishments

CNMP Written: 1 each CNMP Applied: 1 eachConservation Cover: 287 acresConservation Systems Planned: 8,035 acresConservation Systems Applied to Improve Soil Quality:

8,515 acresConservation Systems Applied to Improve Water Qual-

ity: 8,572acresCritical Area Seeding: 43 acresFilter Strips: 12 acresGrassed Waterway: 21 acresFarmstead Windbreaks: 3 eachNew No-Til: 3,150 acresGrade Stabilization Structures: 3 eachPasture and Hay Land planting: 123 acresPonds: 1 eachTerraces: 125,170 feetWater and Sediment Control Basins: 2 eachFence: 2,565 feetPipeline: 1,500 feetFeedlot Runoff Control: 1 eachWildlife Habitat Management: 450 acresSeasonal High Tunnel: 1,800 sq feet

soil and water conservation

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