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The Douglas County Conservation District is helping people help
the land by promoting projects through education to further the
long-term sustainable use of natural resources balancing the needs of
agriculture and urban growth. The district is governed by a Board
of seven Supervisors who are volunteers. We meet once a month on the
fourth Monday 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 6:00pm. 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 assist in
recommending conservation practices such as windbreaks including
specific seedling tree species selection, grass seed plantings to stop
erosion, proper grazing management, controlling noxious weeds, and
providing products to insure successful plantings. In some cases
financial assistance may be available to help achieve your conservation
goals. 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 for High School students to
attend Conservation "Camp Rocky" as well as College tuition scholarships
to students pursuing a career in an agricultural related field, and
adopt classrooms which provide conservation curriculum materials to
schools.
We receive funds from several sources such as the County and state to
help our District residents, none of which comes through direct taxation
and the district receives revenue from product sales:
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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 established
February 7, 1940 when the West Plum Creek soil erosion district was
formed governed by a five member board of supervisors. Three years
later on May 5, 1943, the Cherry Creek Soil Conservation District was
formed also consisting of a five member board of supervisors. These
districts came out of the landowners recognition of a need to control
and prevent further deterioration of the natural resources after the
drought in the 1930's.
In 1960, a referendum was held to consolidate the two districts into
the Douglas County Soil Conservation District. The new district covers
nearly all of Douglas County except for the original incorporated towns
and a few landowners who chose not to participate.
In 2002, the 77 Colorado "Soil Conservation Districts" removed "Soil"
from their name to more accurately reflect that emphasis not be solely
concerned with soil, but for all the natural resources.
Flood Protection The Douglas County Conservation District
co-sponsors 22 watershed flood
control dams in the county with Douglas County.
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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Graham Thompson, President
Dave Dirkse, Vice-President
Scott McHenry, Secretary
Bill Vanderpoel, Treasurer
Chris Hashimoto, Member
Kathy Tourney, Member
Pam Brewster, District Administrator
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Contact Information for the
Douglas County Conservation District
- Telephone
- 303-688-3042 ext. 100
- 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
- Pam Brewster
pam.brewster@co.nacdnet.net
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