Spring 2016 - Asotin County Conservation District

“To advocate, educate and assist people in responsible land management and agricultural practices that conserve
and improve air, soil and water quality and fish and wildlife habitat for present and future generations.”
Introducing
Amanda Schmidt!
Hi my name is Amanda Schmidt and I am very
excited to be an employee of the district and have
the opportunity to serve the local community by
contributing to good land stewardship. The outdoors, conservation and helping others have been
my passions since I was a child.
My employment background has been based
around salmon and steelhead fisheries for the past
12 years. While I was in college, I started working at Idaho Fish & Game
where I spent nearly 8 years working on multiple fisheries projects. I spent
a few years with U.S. Geological Survey on a research project studying juvenile Fall Chinook on the Snake River as well. In addition, I managed a fishing
outfitting business operating on the Clearwater, Snake and Salmon River based
out of Heller Bar.
I moved to the valley after high school to attend college at Lewis-Clark State
College where I received my associate’s degree in Business Management. I
grew up on my family’s farm in Leland Idaho which is near the small town of
Kendrick. We grew crops and also raised cattle on our property in Bedrock
Canyon. Some of my most memorable times growing up were spent working
on the farm and helping my grandpa plant trees in the canyon. My Dad still
lives on the farm and my Mother lives in the valley. I have one brother who
lives in Kendrick. I also have an 8 year old son named Wyatt.
My hobbies are hunting, fishing, camping and shed hunting with my son.
In the summer months we spend much of our time on the Snake River
cleaning up beaches and picking up trash. I have always wanted to make a
positive impact on the land and the things I am so passionate about.
Welcome
Kaitlynn Fellows!
My name is Kaitlynn Fellows and I am excited to
be one of the new members of the team at ACCD.
I just graduated in May from the University of
Idaho (Go Vandals!) with my degree in Natural
Resource Management and Planning. I am originally from Athena, Oregon a small town outside of
Pendleton where I grew up working cows with my
family. I am an avid outdoorsman and can be
found most weekends in the mountains hunting, fishing or skiing. These
hobbies have driven me to protect our natural resources and given me a passion for educating people about the importance of protecting what we have.
Agriculture had a huge influence on my life growing up, and I am excited
to be able to work with the producers of Asotin County to implement conservation on their land.
720 6th Street, Suite B  Clarkston, WA 99403 
14TH ANNUAL
TREE SALE
Asotin County Conservation District
720 Sixth Street, Clarkston
Friday, March 25th
9 am - 6 pm
Saturday, March 26th
9 am - Noon
Trees for $1.00 (plus tax)
Blue Spruce*, Douglas Fir*, Western Larch*,
Ponderosa Pine*, Rocky Mt Juniper*, Austrian
Pine*, Chokecherry, Nanking Cherry,
American Plum
Trees for $1.50 (plus tax)
Blue Elderberry, Flowering Dogwood, Mock
Orange, Hazelnut, Hedge Maple, Beauty Bush,
Giant Sequoia
Trees for $3.00 (plus tax)
Idaho Hybrid Poplar*, Quaking Aspen*
*Available in bundles at a discounted price!!!
~ Cash or Check only, sorry no credit/debit cards ~
~ Limited quantities available ~
~ First come, first serve ~
The Master Gardeners will be available to answer
gardening and planting questions during the sale!
The Weed Board Coordinator will be available to
answer questions about weeds during the sale!
An pre-order form is included in this newsletter.
We have information sheets for each of the species
available, including pictures on our website
www.asotincd.net or available at the District office.
509-552-8117  www.asotincd.net
Board of Supervisors
Chairman
Keith Ausman
Vice-Chairman
Levi Luhn
Auditor
Jerry Hendrickson
Member
Rod Hostetler
Member
Jason Schlee
District Staff
Megan Stewart
District Programs
Operations Coordinator
Colleen Ozard
Bookkeeper
Administrative Assistant
Safety Officer
Amanda Schmidt
Resource Technician
Kaitlynn Fellows
Resource Technician
NRCS Staff
Jim Schroeder
Courtney B. Smith
Bay Young
FSA Staff
Geremy Nelson
Lorelei McNamee
Board Meetings
All District Board meetings
are open to the general public
and are normally held once a
month on Thursday of the first
full week of the month.
Apr – Oct at 7:30 p.m.
Nov – Mar at 6:30 p.m.
at
Asotin County Conservation
District
720 6th Street, Suite B
Clarkston, WA 99403
509-552-8117
www.asotincd.net
2016 NRCS Programs
The application deadline for 2016 CSP program
consideration is March 31st. This date is also the deadline
for applying for CSP contract renewal if you held a 2012
contract that will expire at the end of the year. We are
currently working on 2016 EQIP applications that have
been preapproved for funding this spring. The deadline for
2016 EQIP application was last fall. The CRP general sign
up ended on February 26th. Selections for contracts will be
made by FSA later this spring. NRCS will be developing
conservation plans for seeding those acres to the accepted
perennial cover.
Producers may apply for NRCS
programs at any time. NRCS periodically announces
deadlines for program funding periods. We then work with
those applicants whom have filed applications prior to the
cutoff date. If your application is filed after that year’s
cutoff then it will be deferred to the next years funding
cycle. Due to limited budgets NRCS program
participation is competitive in nature. Applications are
ranked based upon resource concerns, conservation
benefits, and program objectives. If your application is not
selected for funding that year it may be deferred to the
following years funding cycle at your request.
We Are
Going Paperless!
The Conservation District is
moving towards “streamlining”
and transitioning to a paperless
newsletter. Please email us at
[email protected] to sign up
to be on the email list for
paperless delivery of future
newsletters and other informational
announcements.
~ Thank you!
Why Should We Care About Honey Bees?
(Article #1 of Bee Info Series)
If you’ve ever felt hungry, you will inherently realize why we should care about pollinators, specifically honey bees. As far as pollinators go, honey bees offer some distinct benefits
for crop pollination: they work in mass numbers (colonies of up to 50,000 bees); they can pollinate a wide variety of plants, and they can be managed by humans.
Lack of suitable foraging habitat is one of the biggest issues facing honey bees globally, and
this is true in Washington State as well. In fact, the four main issues affecting honey bees are all
applicable in Washington . They are; lack of forage/proper nutrition , parasites & pathogens, pesticide exposure and lack of genetic diversity. Just like people, bees flourish under ideal conditions
and suffer from reduced hive health when they struggle to meet those conditions.
Planting bee friendly plants is a great way to help the honey bees. You will see a list of
beneficial plants in an upcoming article in our series. Parasites and pathogens can be very destructive on the hive especially the parasitic Varroa mite. The Varroa mite has been the single
most destructive issue for hives in the U.S. since the late 1980’s. It’s important to protect your
hives with proper miticide to reduce the predation by Varroa mites. Pesticide exposure is another issue being studied for it’s effects on bees. That will also be covered in an upcoming
article. Similar to humans, bees need genetic diversity to have robust hives. The above issues
have caused reduced genetic diversity and have a detrimental effect to overall hive health. So
by addressing the above three issues we can help promote more genetic diversity in the hives.
Our public policy group
from AgForestry Class
37 looks forward to exploring practical solutions to how we can all
work together to help
our pollinators.
Washington State
AgForestry Class 37
Lindsey Bee Info article 1
The 2016 ACCD Annual Meeting
was held Thursday - March 3rd, 2016
at the Moose Lodge Clarkston, WA
The District THANKS the following 2016 Sponsors, whose generous donations
contributed to an excellent Meeting, Lunch and great Door Prizes!!
AG Pro
Dick and Della Allen
Blue Mountain Agriculture
Casey & Gail Hagenah
Happy Day Corp
Helena Chemical Co
Tom Petty
Roosters Restaurant
Schurman’s True Value
Stonebraker McQuary
Our THANKS and APPRECIATION to our Guest Speakers
whose exceptional presentations were enjoyed by all who attended!!
Geremy Nelson, FSA
Jim Schroeder, NRCS
Nelle Murray, ACNWCB – Asotin County Noxious Weed Coordinator
Joey McCanna, WDFW
Jason Earl, WDFW – Private Lands/Conflict Biologist
Steve Martin, SRSRB – Director of SRSRB
Kelly Susewind, DOE – Special Assistant to the Director
Keith Pearce, Simplot Feeders – Custom Feeding Manager
Special recognition and appreciation to Ron Scheibe for 13 years of outstanding
leadership and dedication to natural resource conservation as a District
Supervisor 2003-2015
Recognition to Casey Scott for his dedication and service to natural resource
conservation as a District Employee 2008-2016
Thank you to Howie and his crew from The Moose
for another fantastic lunch and accommodations!
We are going Paperless!!!
(as much as possible)
The District will be transitioning to electronic
files and paperless communication to better serve
our cooperators. Please fill out the Cooperator
Information Form to ensure we have accurate contact information.
This form can be found on the ACCD website: www.asotincd.net.
Special Opportunity:
Get a jump on the competition!
The Asotin County Conservation District is offering you a special
opportunity to preorder trees and shrubs that will be sold at our 2016
Conservation Tree Sale on March 25th (9 am to 6 pm) and 26th (9 am to
Noon). There are limited quantities available for certain species and
we are giving you the opportunity to buy trees before the sale even
starts since you purchased trees from us in the past. In the past we
have sold out of some trees during preorders! Order early to ensure
you get the species & quantities you want.
Attached is an order form. Simply fill out the form, mail it to us or
drop it by our office with your payment no later than March 23, 2016
at 4:30 pm. Please note that we do not have the ability to make
change during preorders so please have exact change if paying in
cash. No pre-orders will be accepted after this date to allow us
adequate time to package orders. Please make sure you provide
contact information. Your trees will be packaged and ready for you to
pick up anytime during the sale. No Waiting Involved! Don’t forget to
mark your calendar. 
We have information sheets for each of the species available, including
pictures on our website www.asotincd.net or available at the District
office. Thank you for your support in the past and we look forward to
working with you again!
Please note that all preorders need to be picked up during the sale or
other arrangements need to be made in advance.
_____________________________________________________________________________
720 Sixth Street, Suite B • Clarkston, Washington 99403 • (509) 552-8117
ASOTIN COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT
2016 Conservation Tree Sale Receipt - PREORDER
INDIVIDUAL TREES
Blue Spruce
Douglas Fir
Western Larch
Ponderosa Pine
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Austrian Pine
Chokecherry
Nanking Cherry
American Plum
Blue Elderberry
Purple Lilac
Flowering Dogwood
Mock Orange
American Filbert/Hazelnut
Hedge Maple
Beauty Bush
Giant Sequoia
Idaho Hybrid Poplar
Quaking Aspen
5 Cu. In. Plug
5 Cu. In. Plug
5 Cu. In. Plug
5 Cu. In. Plug
4 Cu. In. Plug
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
Bareroot
8 Cu. In Plug
20 Cu. In. Plug
20 Cu. In. Plug
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.00
$1.50
$1.50
$1.50
$1.50
$1.50
$1.50
$1.50
$1.50
$3.00
$3.00
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
$15.00
$15.00
$15.00
$15.00
$15.00
$25.00
$30.00
$50.00
$50.00
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
BUNDLE OF TREES
Blue Spruce (20)
Douglas Fir (20)
Western Larch (20)
Ponderosa Pine (20)
Rocky Mr. Juniper (20)
American Plum (25)
Purple Lilac (25)
Idaho Hybrid Poplar (20)
Quaking Aspen (20)
5 Cu. In. Plug
5 Cu. In. Plug
5 Cu. In. Plug
5 Cu. In. Plug
4 Cu. In. Plug
Bareroot
Bareroot
20 Cu. In. Plug
20 Cu. In. Plug
TREE PROTECTION
Fabric Mulch & Staples
2' x 2' square
X
$2.00
=
Tree Protector Tube
Tree Protector Net
Tube & Stake
Tube & 2 Stakes
X
X
$2.50
$1.50
=
=
Sub Total
Name:_____________________________________________ Tax 7.7%
Address:___________________________________________ Total
City/State/Zip:_______________________________________
*Sorry we are not able to make
Phone:___________________________________________
change during preorders since we
Payment Type: Cash* ___________ Check _______________ do not keep cash in the office.
Additional Comments:
Eurasian watermilfoil
Myriophyllum spicatum
The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board listed Eurasian watermilfoil as
a Class B noxious weed in 1988. It was introduced as an ornamental and is now wide
spread thru out Washington. It is native to Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. It has been
found in Whitman and Walla Walla counties but has not yet been identified in Asotin
County. Infestations of this weed can alter aquatic ecosystems. It forms dense mats that
shade out other aquatic plants, degrades water quality, inhibits water flow and impacts
recreational activities.
Eurasian watermilfoil is a perennial, submersed, aquatic plant with dissected
leaves. It forms dense mats with flowering stems extending above the water’s surface. Flowers are tiny, pinkish and occur on reddish spikes. Male and female flowers are on the same plant. Leaves are finely dissected and occur in whorls of 4 (rarely 5). Each
leaf has 12 or more leaflet pairs (sometimes down to 5 pairs of leaflets). Leaves have a featherlike appearance. Stem tips are tassel-like and often red. They mostly branch near the water's surface. Stems easily fragment. Eurasian watermilfoil spreads mainly by stem fragments. The seeds
detach from the plant, float and then eventually sink. It is highly adaptable and is found in
streams, ponds, lakes and ditches.
This is a very important weed to identify while populations are still small. The Asotin Weed
Board considers this a high priority species for identification and early aggressive treatment.
Please contact the Weed Board if you find a suspect plant.
Submitted by
Nelle Murray
Asotin County Noxious Weed Control Board
Office: 509 243-2098
Cell: 509 751-7505
Girl swimming in milfoil
(Thanks to Washington State Weed Board findings)
2016
Spot Burn
Permits are
available NOW.
For questions - please
contact:
Kaitlynn Fellows
(509) 552-8103
or
Amanda Schmidt
(509) 758-8098
Construction of feed pads and waste storage for manure management.
Asotin County Conservation District
720 6th St., Suite B
Clarkston, WA 99403
509-552-8117
www.asotincd.net
UPCOMING DATES
03/25-26/16 .... ACCD Annual Tree Sale - Fri 9 am-6 pm
....................... Sat 9 am-12 noon
04/07/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
05/05/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
05/30/16......... HOLIDAY - Memorial Day (Office Closed)
06/09/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
07/04/16......... HOLIDAY - Independence Day (Office Closed)
07/07/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
08/11/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
09/05/16......... HOLIDAY - Memorial Day (Office Closed)
09/08/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
10/06/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 7:30 p.m.
11/10/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 6:30 p.m.
11/11/16......... HOLIDAY - Veterans Day (Office Closed)
11/24-25/16 ... HOLIDAY - Thanksgiving Day + Day After
........................ (Office Closed)
12/08/16......... ACCD Board Mtg 6:30 p.m.
12/26/16......... HOLIDAY - Christmas Day (observed)
........................... (Office Closed)
01/02/17......... HOLIDAY – New Years (observed) (Office Closed)
Our phone system has changed...AGAIN!
Our Main phone number has changed and you
now have the option to direct dial employees!!
Below is a list of NEW extensions/DIRECT LINES:
Asotin County Conservation District (ACCD) MAIN # 509-552-8117
Megan Stewart - 509-552-8100 ~ District Programs / Operations Coordinator
Colleen Ozard - 509-552-8097 ~ Bookkeeper / Admin Assist / Safety Officer
Amanda Schmidt - 509-552-8098 ~ Resource Technician
Kaitlynn Fellows - 509-552-8103 ~ Resource Technician
Farm Service Agency (FSA) - MAIN # 509-552-8080
Geremy Nelson - 509-552-8099 ~ County Executive Director
Lorelei McNamee - 509-552-8074 ~ Program Technician
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - MAIN # 509-552-8116
Jim Schroeder - 509-552-8096 ~ Resource Conservationist
Courtney Smith - 509-552-8101 ~ Range Pasture Specialist
Bay Young - 509-552-8104 ~ Soil Conservationist