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Services and Programs
Pine
SWCD administers and offers many programs and services....
Rainfall Monitors:
Citizens from all over Pine County have
volunteered to be part of this program. These volunteers are supplied with a rain
gauge and special forms to complete and send in each month. They monitor the rain and snowfall every day of the year, record the
information on the form, and then send it into our office each
month. The information is then forwarded on to the State Climatology
Office. We currently have at least 1 volunteer in almost every township in the
county! For more information, please contact the SWCD office at (320)
216-4240 or email tmolson@co.pine.mn.us.
Stream & Lake Monitors:
The citizen's lake and stream monitoring programs
are sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The
programs combine the knowledge and commitment of interested citizens
with the technical expertise and resources of the MPCA. The volunteers
are a critical component of Minnesota's Water Quality Strategy. Most of
the large lakes currently have volunteers monitoring them, but there are
small lakes that could be monitored. Most of the rivers and creeks are
not currently being monitored and could also use volunteers. Volunteer
lake monitoring involves going on the lake to the same spot about once a
week and using a Secchi disk to measure the clarity. The data is sent to
the MPCA at the end of the summer. Volunteer stream monitoring involves
going to the river or creek to the same spot once a week and using a
transparency tube to measure the clarity of the water. For both lake and
stream monitoring, general site conditions are recorded each time the
monitoring is completed. The data that is collected is very useful. It
helps determine the water quality of the lake or stream and that data is
entered into the MPCA database and will be available in future years for
comparison. Monitoring is also an opportunity for the volunteer to learn
about the lake or stream and see changes or trends. If you are
interested in being a lake or stream monitoring volunteer, please call
Sam Martin at 320-216-4242, or email h im at
sbmartin@co.pine.mn.us
You can also contact Laurie Sovell at the MPCA at (651) 757-2750 (direct) or Johanna
Schussler at (651) 757-2705. They both can be reached toll free at
1-800-657-3864.
State Cost-Share:
Every year, Pine SWCD receives a limited amount of
funds to be used on conservation practices, up to 75% of the total
construction cost. Critical area plantings, diversions, field windbreaks, grass
waterways, ag waste systems, filter strips, sediment basins, streambank
and shoreland protection, and abandoned well sealing are all approved
practices. An engineered designed is typically required. An engineering
staff that works for 9 SWCDs in the area will do the survey and
design. At least two bids are then received from contractors and the low
bid is (typically) approved. It often takes a year from the time the
initial site visit is made until the construction is completed.
For
more information on the cost-share program, please
click here.
Pine County Water Management Plan:
Pine SWCD Administers
the Pine County Local Water Management Plan. The plan is currently
"under construction" and will be updated by August 2010.
The Pine County Board of
Commissioners adopted a resolution on March 4th, 2008 requiring the update and
revision of the Pine County Local Water Management Plan, as authorized under
Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 103B.301, the Comprehensive Local Water Management
Act.
The plan will be focused on
2-3 priority water management concerns. Pine SWCD held public meetings
throughout July & August 2008 to get input from citizens on their water concerns
in Pine County. The Water Plan Task Force Working Group
met every 4-6 weeks to prioritize the concerns brought forward by the
public, and to help SWCD staff go through the update process. The update
takes approximately 18-24 months. The new Water Management Plan will be effective
August 29, 2010.
For more information about the
Pine County Local Water Management Plan, please contact Sam Martin or Jill
Carlier at (320) 216-4240 or email at sbmartin@co.pine.mn.us or jmcarlie@co.pine.mn.us
The annual Water Plan Task Force meeting was held on Thursday,
February 19, 2009 at 7:00pm at the Hinckley Community Room.
Tree Program:
Pine SWCD's tree program keeps getting bigger and
better every year. We sell 30,000-35,000 tree seedlings each year in
Pine County. Order forms are sent out and published in December. Our
stock is limited, and orders are entered on a first-come, first-serve
basis. Orders
are taken throughout the spring until April 15th. Orders are then
packaged and available for pickup in early May. Click here for the
2010 Tree Order Form.
Please
click here
for information on where and when to pick up your trees!
Water Testing:
Water testing kits are available at our office. We
deal with East Central Water Testing for our testing. Anyone
wanting their well water tested should come to our office to pick up a
kit, which includes bottles to put the sample in, along with a form to
fill out. Samples need to be taken as close to them being tested as
possible. People should take the test on Wednesday morning, then
bring
the bottles and form into our office before 10:00am. Results take
approximately 1-1.5 weeks to come back. There are many
different tests that can be done on your water, such as: Total Coliform Bacteria, Nitrates, Hardness, Tannins, Lead, Nitrites, Iron,
Fluorides, and Arsenic. The most common test, which is used for real
estate transactions, daycare and foster care licensing; tests for Coliform Bacteria and Nitrates. For more information, contact the
SWCD office at (320) 216-4240 or email
tmolson@co.pine.mn.us;
or contact Vicki at 612-390-9061.
Envirothon:
The Envirothon is an outdoor environmental
competition for high school students in grades 9-12. Students in
Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Carlton, Mille Lacs, Aitkin, St. Louis,
Lake and Cook counties all participate in the event, which is held the
first Monday in May. The event is held at a different site each year.
Teams of 5 students visit 5 of the 6 stations (wildlife, forestry, water
quality, soils, and a current events station), where they listen to a
brief presentation by natural resource professionals, and then complete
a short test. Teams also visit the 6th station where they give a 10
minute oral presentation on the current events topic. Scores are tallied
for the 6 stations and the top 3 teams move onto the State Envirothon
where they compete against teams from all over Minnesota. The team with
the highest score at the State Envirothon then travels onto the National
Envirothon with teams from all over the U.S.
Pine County Waters Festival:
Pine SWCD presents "The Water Cycle" to 5th grade
students at the Pokegama Lake Association's Water Festival in Pine City
each year. 5th grade students from all over Pine County attend the event
and learn about water quality, protection and conservation.
Pine County Fair:
Pine SWCD has a booth in the Snake River
Conservation Club building at the Pine County Fairgrounds. Typically we
have a different topic we focus on each year. Staff and supervisors help
staff the booth.
The Waters Newsletter:
The newsletter is published by Pine SWCD. It is
sent to every landowner in Pine County (both in county residents and out
of county residents). Articles are written and submitted by SWCD
employees, as well as partnering agencies such as NRCS, DNR, Extension
and MPCA. The Waters is published twice a year, in February and
again in September. For the latest issue, please
click here.
Wetland Conservation Act:
Pine SWCD administers the Wetland Conservation Act
(WCA) for Pine County. For more information about WCA or its
administration, please
click here.
Local Water Monitoring Data:
Water Quality Data from lakes and streams that is
collected by agencies and volunteers and is put in the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency's STORET database can be accessed at their
Environmental Data Access website
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/data/eda/index.cfm.
Click on Surface Water Quality Data. You can then choose between a
Map-based search or a Text-based search.
For
more information on our programs, click one of the following buttons:
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