Cost Share Dollars Available to Washakie County Residents

The Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) offers cost share to Washakie County residents for "On-the-Ground" projects.  Acceptable proposals can include any project for the implementation of natural resource improvement.  Successful applicants can receive 50% cost share, with a maximum of $10,000.  To data, the WCCD has approved an application for a multi-row windbreak, a water tap and saddle tee for a stockwater well, 3 PV Solar projects, a streambank stabilization project, 3 septic system projects, a reservoir cleaning as well as the projects highlighted below.  A total of $19,505.29 has been distributed in cost share dollars for these projects, since July of 2006.

Salt Cedar & Russian Olive Control Project

The Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) assisted the Washakie County Weed and Pest on their Gooseberry Weed Management Area Program. The purpose of the program is “To facilitate cooperation between all landowners, land managers and agencies to coordinate common noxious weed control efforts”. The program goal is to prevent the reproduction and expansion of noxious weeds into and within the weed management area.

The WCCD assisted with the program by conducting a weed inventory and establishing photo points, starting at the confluence of Gooseberry Creek and the Big Horn River. The inventory work consisted of identifying existing areas of prevalent noxious weeds, such as Russian Knapweed, and marking the locations on aerial photos. This information was then transferred to a GIS program with the weed area boundaries marked on an overlay layer. The new overlay identifies the area by weed species and plant density. A local High School student, who was participating in a Work Experience Program with the Washakie County Weed and Pest District, conducted the GIS work and the Bureau of Land Management assisted with access to the specialized computer equipment required to complete the work. The initial inventory will be used in assessing the extent of the noxious weed problem and to help develop a management strategy and plan.

The WCCD also assisted the Wyoming Game & Fish and Natural Resources Conservation Service in funding a Timber Ax for use in the eradication of Tamarisk and Russian Olive.  For more information on using the Timber Ax, contact Jarrod Glanz, Supervisor with the Washakie County Weed & Pest at 307-347-8582.

 

Animal Feeding Operation Project

The Anderson Ranch in Ten Sleep, Wyoming completed a seven month project in 1999, which included relocating their corrals and lambing sheds approximately one mile away from the creek. "Our family is committed to protecting water quality and we want our project to be used as an educational tool for other livestock producers" stated Aaron Anderson, Anderson Ranch.

The Anderson Ranch East of Ten Sleep has been lambing and feeding lambs on a 20 acre stretch of land along Ten Sleep Creek for over 50 years.

The Ranch applied for and received a Clean Water Act grant that amounted to about $34,000.00 – money that was used for dirt work, water line installation, electrical service connections, lumber, concrete, etc. The grant was a matching grant, where the ranch had to pitch in 40 percent of the cost of the project in dollars, labor or other funding. The Washakie County Conservation District helped contribute dollars for the match as well.

The total cost of the project was estimated at $70,000.00

New Water Management Technology

The Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) has teamed up with Wyoming Sugar Company, Beet Research Committee and local producers; Sage Creek Land and Cattle Company and Palesk Farms, to purchase and installed three monitoring stations. One sensor was installed in a barley field and the other two were installed in beet fields, both which were irrigated using a sprinkler. Each monitoring station included three probes; one 4” deep, one 18” deep, and one 36” deep. Each probe logs information about the soil moisture and is downloaded into a computer program along with temperature and precipitation data. The information collected may help growers increase their profitability by using irrigation water more efficiently, using fertilizers more effectively, saving electricity costs, and helping to control disease in crops. In addition, the District is currently working to form a committee of interested folks to focus on additional grant money to help more producers purchase this technology.