Pope Soil & Water

Providing Quality Conservation Resources since 1949

Providing Quality Conservation Resources Since 1949

Sauk River Habitat Protection Program Informational Meetings

The Pope SWCD would like to share that landowners located in the Sauk River Watershed have a current opportunity through the Sauk River Protection Program in partnership with the Minnesota Land Trust.

There will be a meeting held on Wednesday, January 25 from 7 -9 pm and Wednesday, February 8th from 7-9pm at the Sauk Centre City Hall: 320 Oak Street S, Sauk Centre, MN 56378. Click on the information below to RSVP if you are interested.

https://mnland.org/2021/05/21/sauk-river-watershed-habitat-protection-restoration-program-2/

Story Maps Are Interactive Way to Learn About Our Watersheds

Pope SWCD has been participating in watershed planning for all three of the watersheds within Pope County. The North Fork Crow River Watershed One Watershed One Plan was finished in 2018 and now implementation is being done. A story map was created to share with the public what we know about the watershed and where the partners will be working over the next 10 years to improve and protect resources in the watershed. Click Here to learn more about the North Fork Crow River Watershed!

The Sauk River Watershed plan was fully adopted in 2020 and implementation work is underway in this watershed as well. A story map was just finished in 2022 to share information with the public what we know about this watershed and the work planned by the partnership over the next 10 years! Click Here to Take a Walk Through The Sauk!

The Chippewa River Watershed is the final watershed going through a planning effort in Pope County. This planning effort began in 2022 and will take till 2024 to complete. Information is being reviewed and compiled like these other planning efforts have done. Watch our website for more updates on this planning effort.

Barchengers Named Pope County 2022 Outstanding Conservationists

Pope Soil and Water Conservation District has selected Jim and Karen Barchenger as this year’s Pope County Outstanding Conservationists.  Each year SWCDs across the state select landowners that are great stewards of our soil and water resources, serving as excellent examples in their communities.  

They operate a 300-acre Minnesota Department of Agriculture Water Quality Certified farm raising corn, soybeans, wheat, and cover crops.  From 1972-2005 they operated a 40 head Holstein dairy milking operation and finished the calves.  From 2005-2008 after selling the dairy cows they continued to custom raise calves to finish weights for local dairies.  They have implemented: an ag waste storage facility, field borders, shelterbelt, cover crops, reduced tillage, no-till, rock intakes, side inlet structure, woodchip bioreactor, saturated buffer, raingarden, pit closure, and soil health practices.  They are active members in the watershed district, township, church, corn growers, serving in leadership roles in most of these organizations.  The Barchengers are innovators willing to try new practices, share their knowledge with others, and are great stewards of the land. Congratulations to the Barchengers!