Cullman County Soil & Water Conservation District

501-B Fourth St. S. W. Cullman, Alabama

(256)734-1431

#1 in agriculture Per Alabama Ag. Statistics Bulletin

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New Feature on District’s Facebook Page: ‘Conservation Talk’

The Cullman County Soil and Water

Conservation District has added a new

feature to its Facebook page, a weekly video. “These videos are to show what

the district is doing and what the dis-

trict has coming up,” said SWCD Pro-

ject Coordinator Travis Kress. “We held

a contest for a name and received

many suggestions, Conservation Talk

suggested by Charity Mitchem was se-lected.”

Please check our Facebook page often

to see what’s happening with conser-

vation in Cullman County.

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ENVIRO-NEWS Published By The

Cullman County Soil & Water

Conservation District

501-B 4th Street SW Cullman, AL 35055-4020

Phone (256)734-1431 * Fax (256)734-1431

Editor: Johnny Grantham

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Robert Harbison, Chairman

J. Edwin Carter, Vice Chairman

Charles Hollis, Secretary

Melba Jo Federer, Treasurer

Tim Compton, Member

ADVISORS

Cherrie Haney

Jeff Taylor

Rick Fulmer

Tim Scott

James Fields - Outreach

STAFF Deborah Widner

District

Administrative Coordinator

Kathy Holmes Assistant Adm. Coordinator

Travis Kress Project Coordinator

Johnny Grantham District Promotional Representative

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION

SERVICE Merry Gaines, District Conservationist

Dustin Potter, Soil Conservationist

Auxiliary Scholarship Awarded Each year the Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Auxiliary awards a Cullman County graduating senior with a $500.00 scholarship to Wallace State Commu-nity College to further their education in an agriculture related field. The District’s Travis Kress is shown presenting the scholarship to this year’s recipient, Olivia Benefield of Holly

Pond High School.

Fairview Day in the Park

This Spring the District took its Agventure trailer to Fairview’s Day in the Park. Due to cool weather, attendance was lower than expected, but those attending had a great time. The Agventure trailer is used for school programs and for programs at special farm and conservation programs throughout Cullman County. The trailer has been made possible

through grants and the support of donations from the business community and individu-als. To schedule the Agventure trailer at your event or school please contact the Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District at 256-734-1431.

Non-Discrimination Statement

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines

vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of com-munication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program informa-

tion may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: pro-

gram.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

cullmanswcd.com

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FFA North District Forestry Judging This Spring the Cullman County Soil and Water

Conservation District held the North District FFA

Forestry Judging Competition at the Cullman

Community Archery Park located near Cross

Creek Golf Course. Teams from sixteen north Ala-bama schools participated. The West Limestone

team scored highest. The Cullman County entry,

Cullman Middle School scored fifth highest.

Spring FAWN (Forest Awareness Week Now)

Each Spring the Cullman County Soil and Water

Conservation District, in cooperation with the Cullman Forestry Planning Committee, holds

FAWN (Forest Awareness Week Now) for the 6th

grade students in Cullman city schools, both pub-

lic and private. Pictured to the right is Tim Thorn-

hill of Louisiana Pacific (LP) presenting the Forest Management session.

Cullman County Water Festival More than 1,000 Cullman County 4th grade stu-

dents from city, county and private schools at-

tended the annual Water Festival held on the

campus of Wallace State Community College in

Hanceville this Spring. To help the students un-derstand the importance of clean drinking water,

they were involved in three educational activi-

ties: watershed, water cycle and aquifers. Staff

from the Cullman Co. Soil and Water Conserva-

tion District and the Cullman NRCS office were

among the more than 100 volunteers who served as instructors and aids that made this a memo-

rable day for Cullman County fourth graders.

Tree Planting at Hanceville Elem.

To celebrate Earth

Day, the District’s Deborah Widner pre-sented the Earth Day Birthday program to Hanceville Elemen-tary’s first grade.

Later the students planted a tree on the

school grounds.

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Each year the Cullman

County Soil and Water Conser-

vation District sponsors a con-

servation poster and essay con-

test open to all Cullman county

students, grades kindergarten

through twelfth. “Healthy Soils

are Full of Life“ was the theme

of this year’s contest.

Cullman County poster win-

ners are: grades K-1, first place

Liddie Quick, home school; sec-

ond place Roman Higdon, Cull-

man Christian; grades 2-3, first

place Kara Day, Cold Springs,

second place Cora Quick home

school, third place, Travis Bar-

nett, Holly Pond; grades 4-6,

first place Abigail Whitehead,

Holly Pond, second place Eli

McCullum, West Elementary,

third place Alivia Farr, Holly

Pond; grades 7-9, first place

Evan Wren, Cold Springs, sec-

ond place Madeline Sawyer,

third place Madeline Mitchell,

Cold Springs.

The Cullman County winners

then competed with the winners

in the 12 county Area 1. Liddie

Quick won Area 1.and also the

state competition.

Essay winners, grades 7-9: 1st

place Heidi Garmon, 2nd place

Ella Stephenson, 3rd place Mad-

die Mitchell all of Cold Springs.

The district is very proud of our

winners and all of the students

who entered our Poster and Essay

Contest this year.

Conservation Poster and Essay Winners

1st Place K-1 Poster

Liddie Quick 2nd Place K-1 Poster

Roman Higdon

1st Place 2-3 Poster

Kara Day

2nd Place 2-3 Poster

Cora Quick 3rd Place 2-3 Poster

Travis Barnett

1st Place 7-9 grade Essay

Heidi Garmon

2nd Place 7-9 grade Essay

Ella Stephenson

3rd Place 7-9 grade Essay

Maddie Mitchell

1st Place 7-9 grade Poster

Evan Wren 2nd Place 7-9 Poster

Madeline Sawyer

3rd Place 7-9 Poster

Maddie Mitchell

1st Place 4-6 grade Poster

Abigail Whitehead 2nd Place 4-6 grade Poster

Eli McCollum 3rd Place 4-6 grade Poster

Alivia Farr

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501-B 4th Street SW

CULLMAN, AL 35055-4020

District board meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Wednesday of each month. Meeting dates are subject

to change. The public is invited to attend.

NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION

U. S. POSTAGE PAID

CULLMAN, AL

PERMIT NO. 150

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Upcoming Calendar

Sept 4 Labor Day, Office Closed

Sept 14 County Forestry Judging

Sept 21-30 Cullman County Fair

Oct 5 County Land Judging

Nov 9 District Land Judging

Check Out Important Conservation Information on Alabama’s NRCS Homepage at http://www.al.nrcs.usda.gov Note: OFFICE LOCATION IS AT 501-B 4TH Street SW, Cullman, AL 35055-4020 Office Hours: 7:30—4:00

SPECIAL SERVICES AVAILABLE

PLAT BOOKS $40.00

ROTO-WIPER

Available to cooperators – Call staff

PLASTICULTURE EQUIPMENT Available to cooperators—Call staff

COMPOST THERMOMETER

cost $85 each

SOIL AERATOR Available to cooperators– Call Staff

CAMP MEADOWBROOK

Available for corporate and business conference/meetings, reunions, receptions, weddings, etc.

CONSERVATION EDUCATION PROGRAMS call the staff for arrangements.

(256) 734-1431

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New Bumper Stickers available at SWCD office