Around 60 people gathered at The Abigail on Clinton's east side Friday morning for the annual meeting of the DeWitt County Soil & Water Conservation District.
Myron Kirby, Chair of the local SWCD, served as emcee for the event. He told the crowd that 2018 was another good year for conservation efforts within the county.
Shelley Finfrock, Office Manager of the SWCD, noted the district is embarking on a project to update the Clinton Lake Watershed conservation plan. She says they're currently in the process of applying for grant funding to move the project forward.
Sondra Baker, Administrative Coordinator at the district, touched on some of the outreach performed by the SWCD. She serves as coordinator for the annual Illinois Envirothon competition for high school students. Baker notes the team from Clinton High School won both the local and state competition last year.
The meeting also included presentations from local representatives of the USDA's Farm Service Agency, and NRCS. Dr. A. Lane Rayburn, Professor of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois, provided the keynote presentation.
During the business portion of the meeting, Kirby and Randy Dean were both re-elected to 2 year terms on the DeWitt County Soil & Water Conservation District board of directors.
