Mission
Statement
The Alcona Conservation District is a
locally elected non-partisan entity of state government, whose purpose is to
promote wise land use decisions; based upon the capability of the natural
resources of
Alcona
County
, through technical assistance and education.
Vision
Statement
That the land-users of Alcona County will
understand their inter-dependence with our natural resources and work in harmony
with nature to make wise land use decisions which will secure our quality of
life.
Who
are
Michigan
’s Conservation Districts?
Michigan
’s Conservation Districts are “unique”
local units of State Government, that utilize state, federal, and private sector
recourses to solve today’s conservation problems. The guiding philosophy of
all Conservation Districts is that decisions on conservation issues should be
made at the local level by local people.
Created to serve as stewards of natural resources,
Michigan
’s Conservation Districts take an ecosystem approach to conservation and
protection. Their vision is t help
all citizens of their district to have livable communities in harmony with the
environment.
Courtesy of the MI Assoc. of
Conservation Districts
History
& Origins
In the early 1930’s, along with the greatest depression this nation ever
experienced, came an equally unparallel ecological disasters know as the Dust
Bowl. Following a sever and
sustained drought in the Great Plains, the region’s soil began to erode and
blow away, creating huge black dust storms that blotted out the sun and
swallowed the countryside. Thousands of “dust refuges” left the black fog to
seek better lives. But the storms
stretched across the nation. They
reached south to
Texas
and east to
New York
. Dust even sifted into the White
House and onto the President’s desk.
On Capital Hill, while testifying about the erosion problem, soil scientist Hugh
Hammond Bennett threw back the curtains to reveal a sky blackened by dust.
Congress unanimously passed legislation declaring soil and water
conservation a national policy and priority.
In 1937, President Roosevelt wrote the governors of all the states recommending
legislation that would allow local landowners to form Soil Conservation
Districts. Since about three-fourths
of the continental
United States
is privately owned, Congress realized that only active, voluntary support from
landowners would guarantee the success of conservation work on private land.
Courtesy of the National Assoc. of
Conservation Districts
The
Alcona Conservation District can help you with the following:
Composting & Recycling
Conservation
Education
Energy
Conservation
Erosion
Control
Fertilizer
& Pesticide Management
Filter
Strips
Groundwater
Protection
Intensive
Grazing Management
Manure
Management
Native
Grasses & Wildflowers
Soils
Information
Timber
Management
Tree
Planting
Surface
Water Quality
Wetland
Restoration
Wildlife
Habitat Management
The Alcona
Conservation District was established in 1962 by the landowners of
Alcona County
,
Michigan
. In May of 2000 the District’s
Board of Directors, in an effort to plan for the future care of our natural
resources, established an endowment fund for the District through the Community
Foundation for
Northeast Michigan
. For more information about this endowment fund, click on the following
link:
ALCONA
CONSERVATION DISTRICT ENDOWMENT FUND
