Local News

County Soil and Water District turns 78

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 12:12:08 CST

The 78th annual meeting of the Montgomery County Soil & Water Conservation District was held at the U of I Extension office in Hillsboro on Tuesday January 15th. The emcee for the evening was chairman of the SWCD Ken Suslee. Following a meal catered by Milanos Catering, retiring District Conservationist CJ Liddell was recognized for his 26 years of service to the citizens of Montgomery County. The annual report of the SWCD was then given by Chairman Suslee, and the annual report of the Natural Resource Conservation Service was given by District Conservationist Aaron Engstrom. During his report Engstrom said that while county FSA offices are closed due to the government shut down, the NRCS and SWCD offices are still open due to appropriated funds. If the shutdown is prolonged however, those offices could shut down as well. Engstrom also said that as of 2016 Montgomery County was a part of a district that also includes Christian and Macoupin counties. So although the shutdown has limited the amount of staff available in the office, there are county NRCS offices that have been working hand in hand for the past 3 years for the producers of the three counties.