Dean Johnson, Executive Director of the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District on the left, receiving a check from Larry Sallberg, treasurer of the DeKalb County Farmland Foundation.
After approximately 26 years of working for the protection of farmland for agriculture, and protecting the vital resources of water and soil in DeKalb County, the board of directors of the DeKalb County Farmland Foundation has voted to dissolve the organization. The board of directors voted to officially transfer the funds to the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District.
The DeKalb County Farmland Foundation was founded in 1990. It was founded by Jack Bennett, then a professor with Northern Illinois University. The purpose of the foundation was to protect the vital resource of agricultural land and preserve it for agricultural use. The mission also included the conservation of soil and water in DeKalb County.
“The organization believes that with the shifting of the funds to the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District, the work and mission of the foundation will be carried forward for the benefit of future generations.” Said Dan Kenney, President of the DCFF board of directors.
The foundation has set up two funds with the DeKalb County Community Foundation, and a third fund will be set up by the Soil and Water Conservation District, with money donated by the DeKalb County Farmland Foundation.
The Community Foundation Funds are one to protect agricultural easements, and one to continue providing high school scholarships to graduating high school seniors of DeKalb County who plan to go into conservation work. The third, to be set up by the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District, call the Soil and Water Conservation Fund, will be used to continue the work of protect soil and water resources of DeKalb County.
“The board felt that when it came time to dissolve that the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District’s work most aligned with our foundation’s mission and goals.” Kenney added in a statement provided by the foundation.
“It is estimated that an acre of farmland is lost from production every minute in the United States. We have some of the most fertile soils in the world right here in DeKalb County, it is up to us to practice conservation skills that will preserve our rich soils and plentiful water resources for future generations.” Kenney said.
The DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District will continue the Simonson Scholarship that has been given out for a number of years by the DeKalb County Farmland Foundation. The Simonson Scholarship of $1,000 is given to one selected graduating senior of a DeKalb County High School, who plans to continue their education and go into an area of conservation work.
For more information about the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District visit: http://www.dekalbilswcd.org
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4 Comments
DeKalb County is still approx. 88% Farmland as of 2015. http://dekalbcountyonline.com/2015/05/were-still-a-farming-county/
We can’t afford to live here because of all the ‘monument building’ by our local governments that we are stuck paying for… new libraries, jails, police stations, schools, etc. IMO. New residents would have actually HELPED keep our taxes down… but they never came….
Why? What was wrong with it existing?
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Sad all our farmland was sacrificed for subdivisions, now you can’t afford to live here