2010 TREE ORDER FORM IS HERE!

Please click here to view the form.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Orders cannot be taken online. Please print out the form, fill it out and mail it to us with your check.

 

Remember: Stock is depleted on a first-come-first-serve basis!

We typically start running out of species by late February, so get your order in right away!

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Pine County Platbooks on Sale

The official 2007 Pine County Platbook is on sale now

for the discounted price of $20

only at Pine Soil & Water Conservation District Office

in Sandstone.

 

Cash and check are accepted.

(We are not able to accept credit/debit cards at this time.)

 

Books can be mailed out, however postage charges will apply. Contact our office for information at (320) 216-4240.

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Nordrum Dairy is Pine County's 2009 Outstanding Conservationist!

Pine County Soil & Water Conservation District is proud to announce that Nordrum Dairy was chosen as Pine County's Outstanding Conservationist for 2009. Nordrum Dairy is a partnership between 4 brothers who took over the family farm about 10 years ago. Their parents bought the farm in 1955. Nordrums farm approximately 560 acrews. They milk 150 cows 3 times a day, and take care of 150 young stock.

The Nordrums have done a considerable amount of expansion of the years. The converted the old dairy barn into a milking parlor and constructed a free-stall barn. They have also installed a comprehensive manure management system including two concrete holding tanks, diversions, sediment basin and filter strip. The Nordrums develop an annual manure management plan as well as a pest management plan. The Nordrums have the foresight to consider environmental concerns into their expansion plans especially in an area with high development.

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"Conservation St Croix"

A group of 9 Soil & Water Conservation Districts have partnered up to work on a TMDL that encompasses the entire St Croix Watershed Basin. Carlton, Aitkin, Pine, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Chisago, Isanti, Anoka, and Washington district boards have recently signed a Memo of Agreement to work together on the basin-wide TMDL with MPCA.  Other agencies involved are: BWSR, MN DNR, WI DNR, and the St Croix River Association.

Once the TMDL Implementation Plan is approved, an unprecedented amount of cost-share dollars will be available in the basin for projects to reduce the amount of phosphorus in the Watershed. Projects like lakeshore and streambank stabilization, filter strips, grass waterways, feedlots, and ag waste systems will be implemented through the TMDL. This process has the potential bring in large amounts of money into each county involved in the process - whether it be to local contractors, nurseries, dealerships, etc. During economic times like this, any type of cash infusion to the local economy is welcome!

Basin Information The river crosses three major ecoregions and provides protection for a rich riparian zone, originating in a region of northern spruce and pine and flowing southwesterly through hardwood forests and prairie, eventually joining the Mississippi River. The river supports 95 fish species, beaver, muskrat, and otters. Eagles, osprey, and ducks nest along the river. Insects, 41 species of fresh water mussels, and hundreds of other species of plants and animals make the St. Croix their home. During the 1950s and '60s, a burgeoning population from the Twin Cities continued to push for development and increased recreational usage of the St. Croix River. Worried that continued urban stressors would put the natural resources of the watershed at risk, concerned citizens and politicians pushed for the St. Croix to be included in the original National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, which includes the Namekagon River in Wisconsin and the upper portion of the St, Croix, was established as part of that original Act in 1968. The Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway was added in 1972. This park is one of the most biologically diverse national parks of the Midwest. The states of Minnesota and Wisconsin both recognize the St. Croix is an exceptional resource, deserving of protection. Minnesota has designated the entire St. Croix and its Kettle River tributary as Outstanding Resource Value Waters. Wisconsin has designated portions of the St. Croix as an Exceptional Resource water and the remainder as an Outstanding Resource Water. Wisconsin has also declared its tributary, the Namekagon River,  an Outstanding Resource Water.

For more information on the St. Crois Basin, see the following link to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency website:  http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/stcroix/index.html

If you would be interested in getting involved in the TMDL process, please contact Sam Martin or Jill Carlier at (320) 216-4240 for more information, or email them at: sbmartin@co.pine.mn.us   and jmcarlie@co.pine.mn.us

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 Emerald Ash Borer Found in Minnesota

What is EAB?

EAB is an insect that attacks and kills ash trees. The adults are small, iridescent green beetles that live outside of trees during the summer months. The larvae are grub or worm-like and live underneath the bark of ash trees. Trees are killed by the tunneling of the larvae under the tree's bark.

Information taken from MN Dept of Ag and MN DNR websites

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Contact Us:

1602 Hwy 23 North, Sandstone, MN 55072

Phone: 320-216-4240      Fax: 320-216-4244

Email:  Jill Carlier, District Manager: jmcarlie@co.pine.mn.us

Tim Olson, Office Assistant: tmolson@co.pine.mn.us

Sam Martin, Water Management: sbmartin@co.pine.mn.us

Robin Poppe, Wetland Specialist: rlpoppe@co.pine.mn.us

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