Emmons County’s top conservationists were honored Thursday evening at the Emmons County Soil Conservation District’s 2008 Awards Banquet at The Blue Room in Strasburg.

Receiving the 2008 Achievement Award were the Haak Brothers of Pollock, S.D. They were chosen for establishing sound conservation management practices on their south central Emmons County farm.

According to the ECSCD, the Haak Brothers show diversity on their unit by having a conservation cropping system, farmstead windbreaks and excellent range management with an intense grazing rotation.

They have also incorporated 207 acres in pasture and hayland planting along with 53 acres in range seeding. They were honored in 2003 for outstanding tree establishment, and to date have planted 24,104 feet of windbreaks.

The Haak Brothers will be the district’s guests at the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation Districts annual convention Nov. 9-11 in Bismarck.

Family members include Thomas and Cassie (Weisbeck) Haak and their children Violet, Grace, Sophia and Derek and Renold and Paula (Wolf) Haak and their children Amber, Kayla and Luke.

Awards presented

The Tree Establishment Award was presented to Russell and Malinda Hulm of Hague and their children Emily and Cory. They have planted 2,240 feet of trees, and their weed control and establishment of trees were commended.

Winner of the Long Term Tree Care Award was Dave Job of Linton. He was selected because of his continued effort to maintain healthy, productive trees for the future. His trees, many of which are along Highway 13 east of Linton, are noted for their beauty.

Jim and Jan Lahman of Bismarck were honored with the Wildlife Conservation Award. They have utilized wildlife conservation by establishing 67,242 feet of field trees along with numerous food plots and a pond.

Winner of the Range Management Award was Ralph Lawler of Linton. He has shown a good, planned grazing system that has significantly improved the quality of his operation’s range condition along with improvements made overall in efficiency of his range management goals. Lawler was commended on his ability to develop creative solutions to rangeland management challenges.

Appreciation Awards

Recognized for all of the work they have done to make the district and its programs successful were Glenn McCrory of Linton, Dave Jangula of Linton and Rodney Grenz of Hazelton.

McCrory was recognized for his 25 years of continued service on the board. He has held various positions on the ECSCD Board of Supervisors and other committees and is a past district chairman. McCrory currently represents the district on the Emmons County Water Resource Board and is a member of the Dakota Prairies RC&D Council.

Jangula received recognition for his years of help given to farmers, the board and staff.

Grenz served 13 years on the board until he resigned earlier this year. He has dedicated his life to learning and promoting conservation and is known for “practicing what he preaches.”

School contest winners

Student winners of ECSCD contests were honored.

Activities include 3rd Grade Coloring Contest, 4th & 5th Grade Poster Contest, 6th Grade Essay Contest and the 7th Grade Conservation Tour.

(See photos of the winners.)

Stewardship Week

Emmons County churches, which were represented at the banquet, received thanks for providing outreach to people and communities during Soil and Water Stewardship Week (April 26 to May 6, 2008).

This year’s theme was “Water is Life.”

District Chairman Leo Kiefer said sound conservation practices have enhanced our environment, improved our health and strengthened our security.

“As a board we are very fortunate to have the response we do to this program, and we thank the clergy for taking the time to provide conservation outreach to their church members,” Kiefer said.

The district provides complimentary education materials to the churches.

The district

Kiefer emceed the banquet and presented the awards.

Board member Jim Vander Vorst of Westfield gave the invocation and closing prayer.

Coordinator of the event was District Secretary Rhonda Vetsch.

District Conservationist Erin Busscher-Eik presented a slide show that highlighted the district’s programs.

Educational meetings held include: Soil Health Workshop—Going Beyond No-Till, Grazing Management Workshop (winter and spring), 7th Annual Women’s Ag Night, Alternative Power Tour, Conservation Cropping Systems Project Tour, 7th Grade Conservation Tour and the Awards Night.

Busscher-Eik said the district’s outreach activity was tree planting at the Bakker School. The trees will protect the playground area.

She said 108,346 feet of trees—15,785 trees—were planted in Emmons County in 2008. Over 12,000 hand plant trees were sold, and 102,847 of fabric was laid.

There were 15 new Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts instituted in 2008, with $193,300 obligated for conservation practices in the county. The program includes livestock water, alternative power (solar or wind) pumping plants, cross fences, grass plantings and cover crops.

The Alternative Power Tour, which attracted 60 producers, included stops at the Jon and Bruce Grunefelder farm near Kintyre (windmill/solar panel), the Braddock Dam (surface pump, wind and solar) and the Kent and Vance Graham farm near Hazelton-Braddock (windmill and storage).

Busscher-Eik said over $312,000 in cost share and incentive payments were awarded to Emmons County producers in 2008 to install conservation practices.

There were three new Beaver Creek Watershed contracts issued this year, and a producer and land owner survey was completed last spring.

Busscher-Eik noted that there will be a Cover Crop Tour on October 8 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The district has established a Cover Crop Plot a mile north and two and a half miles west of Strasburg.

Upcoming events include:

•EQIP application deadline for 2009 funding is Oct. 15, 2008.

•Cover Crop Tour, October 8.

•Ag Waste Tour, October 21.

•Winter meetings—Soil Health/No-Till Workshop and Better Grazing Workshop.

•2009 tree planting season—tree orders and handplant orders should be placed as soon as possible.

“Thank you for making 2008 a successful year for conservation in Emmons County,” Busscher-Eik said.

Board and staff

Members of the ECSCD Board are Chairman Leo Kiefer, Glenn McCrory, Brian Leier, Jim Vander Vorst and Jeff Humann. Auxiliary members are Deb Vander Vorst, Joann McCrory and Yvette Humann.

The Natural Resources Conservation staff includes District Conservationist Erin Busscher-Eik, Conservation Technician Scott Kelsch and Soil Conservationist Jaime Palczewski.

District employees are Beaver Creek Watershed Coordinator Ben Erickson, District Secretary Rhonda Vetsch and District Technician Dave Jangula.

Part-time employees helping with tree planting this year include Elias Nagel, Wayne Kiemele, Ken Ryckman, Joe Vetter, Marvin Winterberg, James Bosch, Adam Baumstarck and Ronald Ryckman.