SIDNEY — Entering into its seventh decade of serving Shelby County residents, Shelby Soil and Water and Conservation District is still delivering on the same core mission of addressing natural resource concerns, and saving Shelby County’s precious topsoil that its founders worked off of upon the inception of the district in 1946.

“Many things have changed since the charter of Shelby SWCD in 1946 though,” said Jason Bruns, SWCD district administrator. “The landscape of Shelby County surely looks different; farmland has changed, and developed properties with houses and buildings dot the landscape.”

His report continues:

Over the years as the years as that landscape has changed Shelby SWCD has changed to meet the needs of the residents of the ever evolving Shelby County. Even though the core goals of the Shelby SWCD have remained the same throughout the years, that is to protect our precious natural resources, we have fine-tuned the tools we use to accomplish those goals.

Much of our time is still and will continue be dedicated to the in field implementation of conservation works of improvement on farmland, we also spend great deal of time assisting the residents of Shelby County with residential concerns especially those which deal with lot drainage and septic issues. Over the years our office has also realized a huge growth in our education and programs that are administered through the Shelby SWCD.

Over the course of a year Shelby SWCD conducts programs that promote conservation to hundreds upon hundreds of county residents ranging from pre-school students to the elderly. Shelby SWCD also continues to promote its efforts at community events including of course the Shelby County Fair as well as many of its own functions and events forestry Field Day and our annual meeting banquet.

The future of the Shelby SWCD remains bright, the education and outreach that we conduct continue to bring in many faces and customers to our offices. The growing concern for the conservation of our natural resources continues to broaden the projects that we implement here in Shelby County and we only look for that amplify in the years to come.