Conservation District makes appropriation request

The Bourbon County Conservation District made its annual appropriation request Friday to the Bourbon County Commissioners.

Last year, the county gave $38,000 in funding to the district. This year's request is for $40,000.

Later, District Board Member Dean Bailey said in the past, $5,000 of the county's appropriation has gone to the Marmaton Watershed District, but that has decreased to $4,500.

"Keep in the back of your mind, you may appropriate $40,000, but we're really only getting $36,500," Mandy Shoemaker, office manager, said.

Along with the request, district board members also discussed some of the work they have done and some key issues all conservation districts are facing.

"When you look at the conservation districts across the state of Kansas and the activities, Bourbon County is right up there among the leaders in participation and programs we do," Dean Bailey, board member said. "We see all the activity, so Bourbon County is a top program and we're proud of that and want to stay there. The bad part about it is it takes money."

Shoemaker complimented the board.

"You correspond with other district managers on how your office is running with the board," Shoemaker said. "They have horror stories out there, that they can't get their board to hardly do anything, like attend meetings. These guys attend meetings. And this is all volunteer."

Board Member Ron Brown is involved locally and on the state and national levels, according to Bailey.

"He keeps us well informed and we're always in the mix of what's going on, and that helps us," Bailey said.

Board Member Wayne Thorpe said the county would not have Cedar Creek Lake if it weren't for Brown's involvement.

"He's the one that pushed that through," Thorpe said. "It's not only an asset to the county, but the city, as well."

Brown said he has researched the possibility of obtaining a Resource Conservation and Development grant to fix the leaks at Elm Creek Lake, but the money that is available isn't enough.

"It wouldn't be fruitful," Brown said. "It would take more work than what the value of the grant would be, so we've just kind of dropped out of it. There's some there, but it's not enough to even start out there, so it would just be tantalizing. It would take a lot of time to get a little bit."

Commission Chairman Allen Warren asked if Brown had any suggestions for fixing the leaks, but Brown said he does not.

He said some districts in the state are in "extreme trouble." Western Kansas is sparsely populated with no tax base.

"We've had a conversation ongoing for two years within the Kansas Association of Conservation District for how districts will be funded in the future," Brown said.

In addition to the county appropriation, since 1986, the district has also received up to $25,000 from the Kansas Water Plan.

"That funding has just dwindled with the rate of inflation over the years," Brown said.

At one time, the state placed $6 million in the state water fund annually, but that was eliminated three or four years ago, he said.

The district also received money from the expanded lottery fund, but that has "disappeared," too.

"We're down to just nuts and bolts," Brown said.

Funding has been funneled into the John Redmond Reservoir dredging project, which Brown said is necessary.

"Our discussion has been, maybe a mill levy like the watershed districts do," Brown said. "Most of them are opposed to that because, like us, we get along with the county commissioners great and we don't want to destroy that. But mostly, if we go to a mill levy, we would lose the state match. So there's a lot of things to take into consideration here."

Brown said the districts are still researching the idea of implementing a mill levy.

Shoemaker said there are three counties that have a conservation district mill levy. Brown said some have a partial mill levy, which allows that county to continue to receive state funding.

Later, Bailey asked commissioners what they think about a conservation district mill levy.

Commission Chairman Allen Warren recounted the history of the recent debate over whether extension districts should be allowed to set their own mill levy. Warren those entities that can establish their own are townships, extension districts and fire districts.

"I personally don't have any opposition to you setting that mill levy," Warren said. "But when you establish that mill levy, there are some rules you have to go by."

He said some entities, such as county Extensions and health departments have combined into districts. Shoemaker said so far, conservation districts have not followed that trend.

"We feel comfortable now, but you don't know five years from now," Bailey said.

"It can't happen overnight because it has to be a state statute change," Brown said.

Brown reminded the commissioners that in the past two months, the state's budget is $300,000 short in funding.

"It's critical. It has a lot to do with tax changes," Brown said.

He also discussed the development of a soil health plan for nine to 11 counties in Southeast Kansas. Through the Regional Conservation Planning Program, which is part of the Farm Bill, there is $2 million available to each state. The deadline for the proposal is July 16, he said. The program would help fund information education, test plots, research and cost shares.

"The conservation districts are going to have to get involved with us to carry that out in the county," Brown said.

Food production will have to double in the next 30 to 40 years in order to keep up with the nation's growing population, Brown said.

"If we don't protect this stuff now, it won't be here to protect in the future," Brown said. "And it costs a lot less to protect it than it does to recover it. That's what we're all about."

He said so far, every county in each state has a conservation district, while Natural Resources Conservation Services, which have always worked closely with conservation districts, have been closed, Brown said. In those counties where NRCS has closed, Brown said the CRP, the amount of conservation work, has declined.

The Bourbon County Conservation District continues to work closely with NRCS, and the two entities share resources, Brown said.

"We're fighting to keep NRCS prevalent with us," Brown said.

Shoemaker gave some examples of how the district and NRCS have benefited the county's economy.

There are 2,500 acres contracted through the NRSC Equip Program, which paid out $321,000 last year. There has been $92,741 paid back to Bourbon County farmers and ranchers this year, Shoemaker said.

She said the county's road and bridges crews also utilize the conservation district's services when planning on culvert work.

There are 441 CRP contracts in Bourbon County, which encompasses 14,905 acres, paying out a total of $851,000 annually.