More than 420 people were challenged Monday night to fight a state move to consolidate the state Conservation Commission with the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
The crowd filled the Anderson Building of the Lyon County Fairgrounds for the 69th annual Lyon County Conservation District Annual Meeting, making it the largest conservation district annual meeting in Kansas. The meeting included a dinner catered by the Olpe Chicken House, election of new board members and presentation of conservation awards for 2008.
Debbe Schopper, district manager of the Lyon County Conservation District, asked the group to contact their legislators to help prevent a move to consolidate the state Conservation Commission with the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
“The conservation districts will most likely go away if this legislation passes,” Schopper said.
The Kansas Association of Conservation Districts opposes the move, which is expected to be introduced in the 2009 Kansas Legislature as a cost savings.
“The loss in services to Kansas conservation and watershed districts could be enormous,” Patrick Lehman, executive director of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts said in a guest editorial presented in the programs at the meeting. “Instead of having a high degree of local control and access to the hands-on assistance from expert State Conservation Commission staff that they’ve relied on for 71 years, they may be faced with reduced funding and fewer personnel to help them implement their conservation programs.”
Schopper urged Monday evening’s group to act.
“We would like to stay around for another 69 years,” she said.
A highlight of the night was presenting the annual awards.
The Banker’s Awards for Soil and Water Conservation went to Darbyshire Farms and the Joe and Jennifer Wellnitz family.
Dennis, Kevin and Mike Darbyshire have livestock production and croplands at Darbyshire Farms. They participate in minimum-till farming, maintain terraces, operate a feeding operation, and participate in several programs to improve land management and water quality. The farm also has a wastewater treatment reservoir that has to adhere to strict regulations.
The Wellnitz family owns property in Lyon County. A few years ago the family won the Buffer Award. The Wellnitzes use no-till, farm corn and beans and participate in the preservation of native grasses.
The Lyddane Family — Earl W. Lyddanne and Jerri and Jerry Hefling of Allen — earned the Lyon County Conservation District Range & Grassland Award. The 142-Mile Creek runs through the Lyddane family property, and water quality is preserved in the creek. The farm also has rangeland, participates in grazing management and uses terraces on the cropland.
Fehr Farms, operated by Joe and Barbara Fehr, Kevin and Donna Fehr and Mike Fehr, earned the Continuous Conservation Award for maintaining the land. The farm grows alfalfa and beans and rotates other crops. It also operates with no-till farming and has a cattle operation.
Ron and Kris Redeker use CRP management, converted the land to wildlife use using buffer strips, planted trees, grass and built wetlands. There is abundant wildlife on the family’s land because of their efforts. Their efforts earned them the Wildlife Habitat Management Award.
The 2008 Buffer Award went to Gary and Donna Robinson, who decided to put buffers along the streams on their property, do no-till work for crops and operate rangeland.
The Melvern Lake Watershed Water Quality Award was given as a memorial to Doren Frederickson, who died unexpectedly in 2008. The award was presented to his parents, Ron and Pat Frederickson. Doren Frederickson was a physician in Wichita and was known as a “doctor of land and man.” He loved restoration and history and restored a barn, rangeland, an old cemetery and was a soil conservationist. He also was an animal scientist who loved genetics.