The Wake SWCD anticipates receiving its cost share allocation for program year 2022 from the State in July, 2021.
Funds are available to assist farmers install conservation practices which help decrease the amount of sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus, chemicals and other pollutants in the surface and ground waters of our state.
Landowners and operators of existing agricultural operations may apply for cost share assistance to install conservation practices such as grassed waterways, cropland conversion to grass or trees, cover crops, livestock or irrigation wells, and livestock exclusion fencing. Funds may also be available to assist farmers who have an inadequate water supply that may be hauling water to livestock and vegetable fields.
Applications for assistance will be accepted starting in July.
We've got you covered!
Get up to $100 an acre to plant cover crops this fall!
The Wake SWCD received a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant to promote cover crop adoption in Wake County.
We are seeking applications from crop producers who want to plant fall cover crops (defined here as a crop that is not harvested) in 2021-2022. In order to be eligible, the land must be actively farmed and a soil test, not more than three years old, is required. Preference will be given to land in priority watersheds with the highest potential to reduce soil and nutrient loss.
The priority application deadline for cool season cover crops is August 15th.
New Pandemic Cover Crop Program Helps Producers Continue Cover Crop Systems
Agricultural producers who have coverage under most crop insurance policies are eligible for a premium benefit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) if they planted cover crops during this crop year. The Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP), offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), helps farmers maintain their cover crop systems, despite the financial challenges posed by the pandemic. Read the full news release here.
Free Summer Lunch and Learns
Help: An Urban and Suburban resident education and outreach series.
On Tuesdays, in June and July, from 12pm-1pm join us to learn about stormwater on your property. Topics will include funding opportunities, private engineer considerations for stream restoration, septic and well maintenance, municipal and federal insights, and more!
List of dates and topics:
June 8 - Help: There's water all over my property
June 15- Help: Municipality input and what does Army Corps have to say?
June 22 - Help: Grant funding and private engineering
June 29 - Help: Water quality soultions in Raleigh
July 13 - Help: How do I maintain my septic system?
July 20- Help: Well Issues
July 27 - Help: I need funding for my project
All presentations will be live streamed through YouTube and Wake County Government's Facebook page. For more details about each presentation and to register, please visit the indidivudal event pages linked above. Registration is optional.
Keeping the Farm Virtual Workshop
Our annual Keeping the Farm Workshop is a great opportunity for Wake County farm and forest landowners to learn about topics related to their concerns and interests for their property.
We were unable to hold an in-person Keeping the Farm (KTF) Workshop this year, so the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District decided to host its first virtual KTF event! The workshop streamed live through YouTube on Wednesday, March 24, from 1–4 p.m.
If you missed the workshop this year, you can view the full workshop video below. Individual presentation slides and videos can also be found on our website at wakegov.com/keepingthefarm.
Area IV Envirothon
Wake County Envirothon teams swept the Top 7 at the first-ever 2021 Virtual Area IV Envirothon on March 18! Seven out of eleven original teams earned the privilege to advance to the first-ever 2021 Virtual NC Envirothon on April 16.
Area IV Envirothon Winning High Schools
Area IV Envirothon Winning Middle Schools
Area IV Envirothon Prizes
All teams earning a top score in a resource station won medallions for that station. Enloe High School's Subchronic Exposure won $100, an engraved plaque, three sets of medallions, and gift cards for the Team Advisors.
NC Envirothon
Congratulations to Enloe High School’s Subchronic Exposure and Flaming Drip Torches for capturing 2nd and 4th Place respectively at the 2021 Virtual NC Envirothon on April 16! Congratulations also goes out to Panther Creek High School's Mean Green Beans, Green Hope High School's Tree Frogs, and Raleigh Charter High School's Tree Huggers and Bad Birches for placing 7th, 8th, 12th, and 16th respectively! What a great way to mark the 30th Anniversary of the NC Envirothon- the state's most popular "natural challenge."
NC Envirothon Winning Teams
NC Envirothon Prizes
Both Enloe High School's Subchronic Exposure and Flaming Drip Torches won $150 and $75 cash prizes, engraved plaques and two sets of top score medallions respectively. In addition, Green Hope High School's Green (Hope) Tree Frogs won the NC Envirothon Team Photo Contest, winning $10 gift cards for each of the five team members, and a $50 Nasco gift card for their Team Advisor.
All of us from the Wake District Board, staff, and the Friends of Wake District are so proud of all our Wake County Envirothon teams! We hope everyone had a great Envirothon experience and will return for next year’s competitions in the great outdoors!
Area IV and State Poster Contest
Two Fuller Elementary students represented Wake County well at the 2021 Area IV Poster Contest, competing with posters from 10 other counties in April.
Fourth grader David Dong won 1st place at the 2021 Area IV poster contest, advancing to the NC Poster Contest where his poster competed with those from eight Areas from across the state. He received two certificates and a $100 check from the Area IV Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. His poster is shown below.
Saanvi Garcha won 2nd place for 5th grade at the Area IV regional poster contest! She received a certificate and a $50 check from the Area IV Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Her poster is shown below.
Both of these posters were also spotlighted online, along with other winning posters from across North Carolina, at NC State University’s 2021 Water Resources Research Institute Conference on March 24-25.
Watershed Stewardship Schools
Watershed Stewardship Schools (WSS) is a project-based awards program that challenges every school in Wake County to take 10 actions to learn about and improve their local watershed. Schools achieving these actions receive an engraved awards plaque and a $200 stipend to use for an outdoor classroom project or environmental education materials.
For exemplary efforts during the past two years despite setbacks by COVID-19, Lincoln Heights Environmental Connections Magnet Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina has earned the Watershed Stewardship School Award.
Lincoln Heights Elementary achieved their WSS award by working closely with community partners from the Fuquay-Varina Engineering Department, Clean Water Education Partnership, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, South Wake Conservationists, United Arts Council of Wake County, and their local Wake Soil and Water Conservation District. The certificate and award plaque were presented to Lincoln Heights Environmental Connections Magnet Elementary School on April 27th, 2021.
For its exemplary efforts in environmental education and stewardship, Abbotts Creek Elementary School in north Raleigh has earned the Watershed Stewardship School Award.
Abbotts Creek Elementary achieved this challenge by working closely with a diversity of community partners from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, Clean Air Carolina, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, and their local Wake Soil and Water Conservation District among many others. The certificate and award plaque were presented to Abbotts Creek Elementary on May 5th, 2021.
Lincoln Heights and Abbotts Creek will now serve as mentors for new schools enrolling in the program and will be instrumental in working with the new Wake Green Schools Partnership to advance environmental literacy and sustainability at all Wake County schools in partnership with the Wake County Public School System.
S.T.R.A.W.S. Project
Thanks to a generous grant from the Ocean Conservancy, Wake District rolled out a new initiative this spring called S.T.R.A.W.S. or “ Single-use Trash Reduction At Wake Schools” in partnership with Wake County Solid Waste Management, North Carolina film director Linda Booker Royal, and Friends of Wake Soil and Water Conservation District. The project provided participating Wake County elementary, middle and high schools with a film license to host their own screening of STRAWS, a 33-minute documentary that raises awareness of single-use plastic pollution. The film focuses on plastic straws that rank as one of the Top 10 litter items collected globally. STRAWS was filmed by North Carolina film director Linda Booker Royal and can be shown with the school license in perpetuity.
Enrollment totaled 104 teachers from 41 elementary, middle and high schools that engaged over 1,000+ students in the STRAWS Project. Students in grades 5-12 learned what single-use plastics are and the harm they cause when littered in waterways and the ocean.Teachers also received STRAWS lesson plans and marine debris activities from the Ocean Conservancy that provide project-based STEM lessons that reinforced concepts introduced in the film while making them fun, meaningful and relevant to teenagers.
Student Videos Offer Solutions to Plastic Pollution
Students were challenged to enter the S.T.R.A.W.S. Video Contest by creating a 60-90 second video that creatively informs and persuades people to take action on reducing single-use plastics. Videos were required to include on three key messages: 1) what single-use plastics are, 2) why single-use plastics are a problem in waterways and the ocean, and 3) provide a do-able solution on how to reduce single-use plastics. Participating schools submitted their Top Three videos in a county-wide contest to win prizes and recognition. Middle school videos (grades 5-8) were judged separately from high school videos (grades 9-12) by a panel of three judges. The top three middle school and high school winners received $100 each! View the winning videos below.
Top Three High School Videos
G. Wood- 11th grade
Teacher: Barb Magee, Green Hope High School in Cary, NC
A. Lozevski- 11th grade
Teacher: Donald Thomas, Cary High School in Cary, NC
E. Kim- 11th grade
Teacher: Carl Rush, Green Hope High School in Cary, NC
Top Three Middle School Videos
A. Tirado- 6th grade
Teacher: Patrick Faulkner, Ligon Middle School in Raleigh, NC
G. Sanchez- 8th grade
Teacher: Melissa Pearce, Neuse River Middle School in Raleigh, NC
S. Petty- 6th grade
Teacher: Lisa Meeks, Martin Middle School in Raleigh, NC
Congratulations to our top 6 winners and every student videographer that researched single-use plastics and offered do-able solutions in their original video!
Thank you to our S.T.R.A.W.S. Video Contest Sponsers: Ocean Conservancy- International Coastal Cleanup, BY THE BROOK Productions - Film Director Linda Booker Royal, Wake County Solid Waste Management Division - 86it and Feed the Bin, Wake Soil and Water Conservation District - Wake County Big Sweep, and Friends of Wake Soil and Water Conservation District.
Meetings and Closures:
June 8, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
June 9, 2021 at 1:30pm - Wake SWCD Board Meeting
June 15, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
June 18, 2021 - Juneteenth Holiday, Office Closed
June 22, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
June 29, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
July 5, 2021 - Independence Day, Office Closed
July 13, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
July 14, 2021 - Wake SWCD Board Meeting
July 20, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
July 27, 2021 at 12pm- Lunch and Learn
August 11, 2021 at 1:30pm - Wake SWCD Board Meeting
August 15, 2021 - Priority deadline to apply for cool season cover crop program
September 6, 2021 - Labor Day, Office Closed
September 8, 2021 at 1:30pm - Wake SWCD Board Meeting
If you have any questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to email us at swcd@wakegov.com or call 919-250-1051.
Credits:
Created with images by suxco - "rice nature food" • Sophieja23 - "woman question mark person" • gregovish - "leaves green maple" • vjgalaxy - "river tea miño" • Couleur - "daisies flowers bloom"