District Outreach

SWCDs Hosts Tour for Congressman Brad Ellsworth

Members of the Posey and Vanderburgh County Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) along with members of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) hosted a tour for Congressman Brad Ellsworth and members of his staff on Saturday, March 31, 2007.

Left: IASWCD President and Posey County SWCD Supervisor Jim Droege takes time during the tour to talk to Congressman Ellsworth. The tour was a great introduction for the Congressman to conservation Best Management Practices on conservation programs working to protect soil and water resources in Southwest Indiana.

After meeting at the farm of Dave Nurrenbern in southwestern Vanderburgh County for a short PowerPoint presentation on conservation programs and projects, the group visited various agricultural conservation sites and a Brine remediation site within Western Vanderburgh and Eastern Posey Counties. Projects visited included water and sediment control basin systems (WASCOBs) which have been installed for well over twenty years, project sites that were planned but not constructed to get a “before” view of conservation planning, grassed waterways and filter strips. All of the projects were cost shared with some type of local, state or federal program.

Tour participants included Congressman Brad Ellsworth and aides Jay Houser and Rodney Buchanan; Jim Droege, chairman, Posey County SWCD and President of the Indiana Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD); Dave Ellison, vice chairman, Vanderburgh County SWCD; Tim Seifert, president, Posey County Farm Bureau; Bill Norfleet, NRCS District Conservationist (DC) in Posey County; Darrell Rice, NRCS DC in Vanderburgh County; and Dan Hovland, NRCS Assistant State Conservationist for the region. Also on the tour were Tim Hoenert, Don Kuhlenschmidt, Paul Seifert, Ralph Weinzapfel, Joe Steinkamp, and Larry Schmitt. Priscilla Kelly, Posey County SWCD and Chairman of the Southwestern Indian Brine Coalition (SWIBC) shared before and after information on Brine remediation with Congressman Ellsworth while visiting a remediation site at the farm of Jim and Idella Davis.

Above: Tim and Paul Seifert talk with Congressman Ellsworth about the progress of conservation projects on the Seifert farm.

The Posey County SWCD would like to give a special thank you to Mt. Vernon General Baptist Church for the use of their van for this tour. If you have questions about how to organize a tour such as this one, contact Jeri Ziliak, Posey County SWCD.

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