Press Release
For Immediate Release:
February 6, 2019
For more information call::
651-480-7777
Dakota County SWCD Celebrates Earth Day Year-Round
Earth Day, a day proposed to honor our planet and raise awareness about environmental issues, is April 22nd this year. It’s been celebrated every April since 1970. On that first Earth Day, the Dakota County Soil & Water Conservation District was already 26 years old.
Organized in 1944 in the wake of the Dust Bowl, since then we’ve been working with landowners and members of the community to manage and conserve soil and water resources across the county. Whether you’ve attended one of our Landscaping for Clean Water workshops, received incentives from us for a conservation project – or never heard of us before – the Soil and Water Conservation District is working for clean waters and healthy soil in Dakota County, on Earth Day and every day.
SWCDs are local units of government that carry out natural resource management programs at the local level. We are one of 89 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) across the state of Minnesota – and nearly 3,000 across the nation – that provide a neighborly presence to help preserve and protect the natural resources that we all love. We facilitate voluntary, incentive-driven initiatives to conserve land, water, prairies, woods, and wildlife, working with landowners every step of the way.
We’re grateful for the amazing natural resources and varied lands we get to work with across the county. In Dakota County, our projects can range from a 200 square-foot raingarden in someone’s backyard to projects several acres in size.
Each of the 89 SWCDs in Minnesota operates at the direction of locally elected board supervisors. This local perspective allows SWCDs to manage the resources and serve the needs of the citizens in their own district, while also forming partnerships with public and private, local, state and federal entities. Our work results in cleaner water, healthier wildlife habitat, better soil, and a collaborative relationship with the community – a great thing to celebrate.
