Author: admin (Page 12 of 14)

CONTESTS – design T-shirts

March 5, 2012 / admin

Here’s two contests to whet your creative juices for designing a T-shirt
about the wonderful work our volunteers do in cleaning up our watersheds!

1. NC BIG SWEEP DESIGN CONTEST (FALL 2012)

Create a design for the 2013 NC Big Sweep: a statewide cleanup for a
litter-free environment. Open to grades K-12.
Deadline is October 15, 2012 (plenty of time!)
Winning design wins $100 and is placed on T-shirts worn statewide, as well
as on brochures and posters. Desing contest flyer below

2. NEUSE RIVER CLEANUP (SPRING 2012)

Create a design to be unveiled at this spring’s Neuse River Cleanup on
April 7th..
Open to all ages.
Deadline is March 15, 2012. Continue reading

kudos to Keeping the Farm

February 27, 2012 / admin

from TREELINE, the NC Foresty Association newsletter – Jan/Feb 2012

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler addressed landowners at the Saving the Farm Workshop. Troxler stressed the important role agriculture and farmers play in the state’s economy.

Keeping the farm workshop once again draws a large crowd

Under the direction of District Director Dale Threatt-Taylor, the Wake County Soil & Water Conservation District once again sponsored its popular “Keeping the Farm Workshop” in Raleigh. The energetic Threatt-Taylor has been running this program for the past seven years. She draws in the various civil servants who serve the farming community as well as experts from North Carolina State University. Topics included cost-share programs, the present-use tax program, a legislative update and an update on estate taxes. The NCFA has been a sponsor of this program since its origin and participates by displaying at the event.

Wake SWCD receives award

February 13, 2012 / admin

Congratulations to Wake Soil and Water Conservation District. In January it received the Unit of Government Award for 2011, given by The Hugh Hammond Bennett Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society of America. The District was honored for its long history (48 years) of participating in the NC Resource Conservation Workshop with NCSU, US Army COE, NC Forest Service, Clemmons Educational State Forest, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, NC Division of Soil and Water Conservation and NRCS. The workshop provides a week-long active, outdoor learning experience focused on conservation of natural resources. This year’s workshop will take place in June.

Photo by Bill Sandifer

75 years of Conservation

January 25, 2012 / admin

Soil and Water Conservation takes front page news in this months Agriculture Review. Check it out on line: http://www.ncagr.gov/paffairs/AgReview/pdf/Jan12AgReview.pdf

and, Commissioner Troxler sits down with the Southern Farm Network to talk about 75 years of Conservation. It is a great recorded interview that is just 3 1/2 minutes long.

cool NC fact: The work of Anson County native Hugh Hammond Bennett led to the formation of the federal government’s Soil Erosion Service in 1933.

Keeping the Farm – Wed 1/25

January 24, 2012 / admin

7th Annual Keeping the Farm Workshop

There is still time for you to attend.

How do the latest changes in legislation and rules affect you and your land?

7th Annual Keeping the Farm Workshop
for Wake County Landowners and Operators

Topics include:
New cost share programs for your farm and forest, land use tax value,
legislative updates (ETJ, bona fide farm definition, etc.),
forestry rules, estate tax update
Question and Answer sessions with agency staff and more!

January 25, 2012
8:30 a.m. — 4:00 p.m.
Wake County Office Park – Commons Building
4011 Carya Drive, Raleigh, NC

To register call 919-250-1050 or email keepfarm2012

keeping the farm workshop.pdf

46 Annual Conservation Awards Banquet

January 1, 2012 / admin

On December 8, 2011, the Friends of Wake SWCD and the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District presented the 46th Annual Conservation Awards.

Environmental Stewardship Award: John Ann Shearer
Dan Wilkinson WRAL Conservation Communication Award: Stephen A Whitfield / NCWoodlands
Conservation Poster Winners: Top Ten Students
Community Conservation Partnership Award: Falcon Engineering
Envirothon Mentor of the Year Award: Dr. John Meyer
Big Sweep Excellence Award: Wake County Parks and Open Space
Conservation Farm Family Award: Danny Glenn Perry and Larry Perry
Lifetime Achievement Award: John Y. Phelps, Jr.
Friend of the District Award: Dr. B.C. Raynor, DDS

Congratulations and Thank You to all our winners for their work in conservation in Wake County.

If you would like to help sponsor the Annual Conservation Awards please contact us at: friendsofwakeswcd@gmail.com

To support the work of the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District, please consider joining the Friends by clicking here.

2011 banquet program

Sir Walter Raleigh Award

January 1, 2012 / admin

The AB Combs Elementary School rain garden was recognized with a 2011 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Community Appearance, Raleigh’s annual celebration of the best in community design and conservation. The award is shared among its many partners, including Wake SWCD Staff, as well as District Conservation Award recipients John Ann Shearer and Falcon Engineering.

http://www.raleighnc.gov/home/content/PubAffairs/Articles/2011SirWalterAwards.html

SOIL AND WATER TO RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARD

December 28, 2011 / admin

SOIL AND WATER TO RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARD
The Soil and Water Conservation Department will receive the 2011 Earth Team
Award, from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), during the N.C. Association of Soil and Water Conservation
Districts’ annual meeting, January 8-10, 2012, in Greensboro. The award
recognizes the best volunteer programs in NRCS offices nationwide.

Receiving more volunteer hours than any other conservation district in the
state, Wake Soil and Water Conservation engaged skilled volunteers to
assist with technical and administrative duties throughout the year. This
volunteer support helped the department, as an interim measure, meet the
increasing demand from residents for agricultural and natural resources
conservation services. Staff Contact: Dale Threatt-Taylor, Soil and Water
Conservation Department, 919-250-1068

2011 poster contest winners

December 11, 2011 / admin

Congratulations – to our top ten 2011 “Wetlands Are Wonderful Conservation Poster contest winners.

For creating wonderful “Wetlands Are Wonderful” posters, 10 fifth grade students were honored December 8^th at the 46^th Annual Conservation Awards Celebration hosted by the Friends of Wake Soil and Water Conservation District. The Top Three poster winners received cash awards: $100 / $50 /$25. The 1^st Place poster advances to the regional Area 4 Poster Contest in April 2012, competing against the best posters from 10 neighboring counties.

“This year’s Top Ten are absolutely amazing!,” said Thomas Dean, Chair of the Wake District Board of Supervisors. “These 10-year olds certainly rose to the challenge of researching a specific type of wetland in NC, and illustrating how that wetland benefits people and the environment. Each child incorporated the required science and creative artwork, complete with that ‘wow’ factor!”

Over 825 fifth grade students from 12 elementary schools in six Wake County towns participated in this year’s conservation poster contest sponsored by Wake Soil and Water Conservation District and Novozymes Nature’s GREEN-RELEAF Composting.

The Annual Conservation Awards Celebration spotlights citizens who, in the past year, have gone the extra mile in conserving the county’s natural resources with exemplary practices, in communicating the conservation message to a broad audience, and in learning about the natural world and the importance of conservation.

The top ten poster contest winners came from the following schools:

Alston Ridge Elementary In Cary

Farmington Woods Elementary In Cary

Green Hope Elementary In Cary

Hunter Elementary In Raleigh

Lockhart Elementary In Knightdale

Pleasant Union Elementary In Raleigh

Wendell Elementary In Wendell