El Paso County and Double El Conservation District

Installs New Living Snow Fences    

El Paso County and Double El Conservation District (CD) recently installed three Living Snow Fence tree plantings on Funk Rd. for approximately 2,750 feet.  The projects are a twin row high density planting.  520 rocky mountain junipers, 5,500 ft of weed barrier fabric and 4,870 feet of 3 strand barbed wire fence was completed with the partnership between El Paso County, Double El CD, landowners Larry & Rhonda Davis, Bryan & Ann Marie McLaughlin and Kevin Miller.  Don Moore Tree Plantings Service donated equipment and labor for the project.  Freedom 4-H assisted with labor for construction of a portion of the fence.  Simla NRCS donated technical assistance for wind break design and labor to install planting.  This partnership between El Paso County and Double El CD has been in existence since 1997.  We have installed 22 projects to date.  The ultimate goal of the Living snow Fence program is improved traffic safety, benefits to taxpayers with decreased cost of snow removal on public roads and decreased long term costs associated with slatted snow fence maintenance.  The longevity of a tree-planting is one of the most valuable attributes of a living snow fence.  Trees will live for decades, while a 4-foot wood slated snow fence lasts only 5 to 7 years.  We estimate a savings of 3-4 hours savings on snow removal and clean up per snow event in areas having living snow fences.  It is estimated $800 per storm event is saved on traffic control, safety and all snow removal efforts.  Additional benefits are the creation of wildlife habitats and improved aesthetics.

Partnerships Responsible for Miami-Yoder School Windbreak 

Recently a windbreak was installed for the Miami-Yoder School.  The windbreak is similar to the high density twin row plantings commonly used for living snow fence plantings along roadsides.  The windbreak included over 70 rocky mountain junipers and 600 ft weed barrier fabric.  It will provide protection from blowing and drifting snow, wildlife habitat and aesthetic beauty for the school for many years.  Even though the trees are seedling, the benefits will be realized as little as 4-5 years.  Deb Payne coordinated the entire project.  Don and Vicki Moore donated their equipment and labor to prepared the site for plantings and lay the weed barrier fabric.  Lyle Batton’s science students assisted in the manual tree planting.  Each student mentored a preschool student with the planting.  Tami Harding’s preschool students were individually teamed up with a high school student.  The preschool gave each of the students a small shovel to complete the project.  This project was a great mentoring experience for all the students.  All these students can look at the project and take pride in the important part they played in the windbreak.

     This beneficial tree planting project would not have been accomplished without the participation of several partners.  Don & Vicki Moore Tree Planting Service donated equipment and labor.  Lana Pearson and Benny Kitten of the Simla NRCS provided technical assistance, windbreak design and installation.  Double El Conservation District donated the trees.  Miami Yoder School provided the weed barrier and polymer.  Teacher Lyle Batton and his science students along with Tami Harding’s preschool students planted all the trees.  Christine Walker and Jacque Harding assisted the preschool in the project.  Thanks to everyone’s help for making this worthwhile project possible. 

Double El CD Honored Lois Kitten as 2009/2010 Conservationist of the Year

Lois Kitten (of Yoder, Colorado) was nominated as the Outstanding Conservationist – Ranch Category for the Double El CD.  She was also honored at the Upper Arkansas Watershed Ranch Conservationist. 

The operation consists of 960 acres of rangeland and 160 acres of Conservation Reserve Program.  Lois & the late Vernon Kitten entered into a Great Plains Conservation Contract in 1966.  They installed 85,139 linear feet of terraces, 1,664 linear feet of diversions and 360 acres of rangeland chiseling, 3 stock tanks and 1 livestock well, proper range use for 360 acres, conservation cropping system for 520 acres, stubble mulch for 520 acres, crop residue use for 520 acres and proper pasture use for 235 acres.   Rangeland chiseling was accomplished on 360 acres with their Great Plains Conservation Program.  Lois continued the entire operation with the help of her young children, Tena & Benny after the death of her husband in 1971.  She utilized a winter wheat/fallow crop rotation and an occasional forage sorghum crop with contour strip cropping. 

In 1991, Lois planted 40 acres of cropland back to native grass through assistance from the ASCS office now known as FSA through their ACP program. 

In 1992, Lois continued her conservation efforts by installing 1.5 miles of single row field windbreaks with the Stewardship Incentive Program cost share from Colorado State Forest Service.  940 trees were planted of green ash, hackberry and chokecherry along terraces spaced over a quarter section of land and 1.5 miles of weed barrier fabric. The planting was also a demonstration site to showcase field windbreaks, the innovative use of polymer and weed barrier fabric

They have also installed 5 windbreaks on their own.  Lois has planted over 620 trees and 3,500 feet of weed barrier in the 5 windbreaks on her operation.

1996, the balance of the cropland was planted back to native grass with the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

In 2002, Lois installed 3.5 miles of cross fencing with the Double El CD Matching Grants Cost Share Program.  The cross fencing project enabled her to split the 3 pastures into 6 grazing units of 160 acres each for better grazing management.  The electric cross fence is powered by a solar/battery powered charged. 

Noxious weed treatment was applied with assistance from the Double El CD Matching Grants Cost Share Program.  Lois recently installed a solar pumping facility for the livestock well with assistance from the Double El matching Grants program.

Lois  is still planning for more conservation efforts. She would like to plant a living snow fence along State Highway 94 as well as another windbreak for livestock protection. She is looking forward to adding the expiring CRP land to the current rotational grazing system.

Lois is a wonderful example of a conscientious conservationist.  Thank you and congratulations, Lois. 

2010 Outstanding Small Acreage Manager Jeremy & Melany McKnight

WE are pleased to honor Jeremy & Melany McKnight and their children (Kaley and Tanner) for their conservation efforts. 

They have planted over 300 trees on their property.  Their first windbreak was planted in 2004 and they have added plantings each year since then. 

They have fenced all of the planting except the trees in front of the house on the west side. 

Field Windbreak was planted under the Double El CD Matching Grants Cost Share Program.  The windbreak if very functional and located to provide protection to the livestock on either the north or south side  depending on which direction the storm is from. 

Jeremy works for Elbert County Road & Bridge and also working for Don Moore Tree Planting and Arrowhead Fencing as time permits.  Melany is a stay at home mom. 

The McKnights are doing a wonderful job of protecting their land and providing for the future. 

Dennis Shy and Wilmatt LTD were honored as Outstanding Conservationist by the Agate Conservation District.  Three generation of the Wilmatt’s (Wilcox and Matthews family) have owned this ranch and three generations of the Shy family have now operated it.  The Shy family has been operating the ranch by Agate since 1960.  Dennis took over from his Dad in 1975, but he has been running some cattle on the ranch since he was 13.  Wilmatt LTD has had control of the ranch since the 1950’s.  The ranch now consists of 15,760 acres.  Dennis also owns 394 acres which lies next to Wilmatt LTD.

    During this time they have completed several conservation practices all which have been completed on their own as follows:  13,556 ft of terraces, reseeded 618 acres back to native grasses, 3 flood control dams, 7 stock water dams, 14 livestock wells, pumping plants and tanks.  They have cross fenced and reduced the pasture size from four sections down to two sections.  The majority of the pastures are one section in size.  They are consistently controlling any weeds problems that come up.

     After seeding what fields they had back to grass, the ranch is now all in native grasses.  They have about 600 mother cows and utilized a rotational grazing system through their pastures starting in a different pasture each spring.  They calve in late spring and sell in late summer.  The cows pretty much fend for themselves with exceptions of bad snow storms.

     Dennis’s goal is to do more water developments with pipelines and dams so he can better utilize his grass by improving the rotation in the pastures.  Just last spring he installed a dam and repaired a spillway on another dam with assistance from the Agate  CD Matching Grants Cost Share Program.  His goal is to leave the land in better shape then when they started the operation.

 Brandy Irsik of Yoder, Colorado was awarded a full scholarships from Double El Conservation District to attend Camp Rocky.  Camp Rocky is a week long camp held at Rocky Mountain Camp in the mountains near Divide, Colorado.  Participants choose from four resource fields for their area of focus.  The resource fields are Forest Management, Rangeland Science, Soil and Water Conservation and Fish and Wildlife Management.  She worked in integrated management teams to develop a management plan from their resource focus.  Campers also worked together to explore, discuss and use critical thinking and problem solving techniques for solutions on various controversial environmental issues.  Other activities included volleyball games, hiking, campfire, challenge course and a dance.  Any youth ages 14 through 19 are eligible to attend the outdoor environmental adventure camp.  If you are interested in obtaining a scholarship to attend Camp Rocky, contact Agate and Double El CD at 719-541-2359 x 101.

Landowners

     Double El CD Matching Grants program provided $25,000 cost share financial assistance to landowners to install needed conservation practices.   30 requests were submitted for total cost share needs of $53,634.  22 landowners were assisted to install 2 wells, 1 well repair, 5 solar pumps, 4 windbreaks, 1 grassed waterway, 2 terrace projects, 2 cross fencing projects and 5 noxious weed treatment projects

Agate CD Matching Grants program provided $25,000 cost share financial assistance to landowners to install needed conservation practices.  18 requests were submitted for total cost share needs of $49,151.  11 landowners received a maximum of 50% funding or less to install 1 solar pump, 1 windbreak, 1 weed control, 1 well, 2 cross fence projects, 8 water facilities, and 3 pipeline projects.

Leafy Spurge Grant Project

A grant was received for the High Plain Invasive Plant project to provide cost share assistance to landowners in their treatment of leafy spurge infestation along Big Sandy Creek.  The designated area was about 40 miles long.  38 landowners were eligible to participate in the project.  11 landowners completed treatment and received funding.  426 acres was treated.  The two most successful treatments were a commercial sprayer treating with Krenite S and the second was a fall treatment using Plateau.  Weed control/eradications are not a one-time action, but rather an on-going effort.   The funding was not renewed for the following years.   The loss of funding for the following years has left the landowners with a project that is only partially completed.

LEAFY SPURGE (euphorbia esula L.)    

 Aliens have invaded Colorado pastures,

fields, roadways and grasslands!  They are in the form of noxious weeds.  This alien, Leafy Spurge, is one of the worst to control or eradicate.  These noxious weeds cost Colorado residents upwards of $10 million annually in lost productivity.  Weeds such as leafy spurge crowd out native plants and often force them from their native habitats.

     Leafy Spurge is one of the earliest plants to emerge in the spring.  Flower cluster develop 1 to 2 weeks after stem emergence which is from mid-April to late May.

     Leafy Spurge has adapted to a wide variety of habitats in the state and is very competitive with other plant species.  Where it becomes established it crowds out practically all other vegetation.  The roots can extend as deep as 30 feet into the soil and are extremely wide-spreading.  The competitive, rapidly growing and extensive root system makes leafy spurge very difficult to manage.

    The most effective method of control for leafy spurge is to prevent its establishment.  New infestation are more easily controlled than established infestations.  Use a management plan that uses several control methods that are compatible with your site.  Biological methods include beetles, flea beetles, flies and moths also have been released to control leafy spurge.  Several types of flea beetles seem to work best in Colorado.  Chemical control includes annual application of herbidies such as Tordon 22K (picloram), Redeem-R&P,  Milestone VM,  Krenite S (Fosamine), Plateau (imazapyr), or 2,4-D Amine.   For more information, please visit www.colorado.gov/ag/csd and click on the Noxious Weed Program link.

     USE PESTICIDES WISELY:  Always read the entire pesticide label carefully, follow all mixing and application instructions and wear all recommended personal protective rear and clothing.  Contact your state department of agriculture for any additional pesticide use requirements, restrictions or recommendations.      NOTICE:  mention of pesticide products does not constitute endorsement of any material.

Sign Up Begins for Conservation Stewardship Program  

     This week, USDA began continuous sign-up for the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)  (Formerly called the Conservation Security Program). The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is a voluntary conservation program.  The 2010 signup period cutoff is scheduled for September 30.

     CSP provides financial and technical assistance to eligible producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air and related natural resources on their land. CSP encourages land stewards to improve their conservation performance by installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities on agricultural land and non-industrial private forest land. The NRCS will make CSP available nationwide on a continuous application basis.  

     The State Conservationist, in consultation with the State Technical Committee and local work groups, will focus program impacts on natural resources that are of specific concern for a State, or the specific geographic areas within a State. Applications will be evaluated relative to other applications addressing similar priority resource concerns to facilitate a competitive ranking process among applicants within a State who face similar resource challenges.

     The entire operation must be enrolled and must include all eligible land that will be under the applicant's control for the term of the proposed contract that is operated substantially separate from other operations. To kick off the 2009 CSP sign-up period, NRCS has provided extensive information on the program, including a self-screening checklist, activity list, fact sheet, the CSP interim final rule and adaptable PowerPoint presentations. To access these materials, visit the NRCS website at www.co.nrcs.usda.gov.