A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
One of the larger conservation projects guided by the Carlton County Soil and Water District last year took place in the southeast corner of the county at County State Aid Highway 8 and Stateline Creek, one of the county's many trout streams. In partnership with the Carlton County Transportation Department, the project included removal of an undersized culvert and replacing it with a bridge. The stream was restored and a failing bank downstream was stabilized.
Many of you are acquainted with our local Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District. Our small team has achieved great successes following our mission of "Assisting landowners in protecting and enhancing the natural resources of Carlton County since 1961."
I'd give you the details, but I have just 500 words, and our website, http://www.carltonswcd.org, is much cleaner. If you'd like a personal story, call me anytime; my contact information is on the website (at carltonswcd.org).
My name is Russell Kurhajetz, and I was elected to the Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors in November of 2018. I was recently elected Northeast Area 3 Director for the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
I joined the SWCD because, like many of you, I choose to live in Minnesota because of the natural resources. I know there are a lot of efforts to conserve and protect, but after becoming a citizen water monitor with the MPCA, I learned that SWCD is a local-state partnership assisting landowners who would like to pursue conservation. This is how I believe conservation should be done, so I got involved.
Minnesota is a state where the majority of water arrives as rain or snow. In Carlton County, our four watersheds are the Kettle, Mississippi, Nemadji and St Louis rivers. We are fortunate to live in a county where, while we have areas that need attention, our issues are not as emergent as some. This does not mean that conservation shouldn't be a priority, it means we must put forth efforts to protect and enhance. This is much easier than reacting. We can do this by better understanding and listening to what caused other areas to degrade.
A recent example of this is our recent first annual native plant sale in 2020. Our intent is to share how perennials and native plants provide balance to the ecosystem. They are beautiful to look at and provide homes for insects which naturally feed birds. And by pairing them with some native trees and shrubs, you'll provide homes and sanctuary for this wildlife. Choosing native is choosing to contribute to the entire ecosystem in a symbiotic way, and many options are low-maintenance, as they are meant to thrive here.
I have been the board chair for the past year, appointed to the MN SWCD Forest Association and serve on our legislative committee. I regularly work with our commissioners and state legislators to ensure the economic benefit to our communities derived from our lush natural resources is protected. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you all. I look forward to hearing from you.
Contact Russell at [email protected].
