Valley conservation gets boost from NCRS

HARRISONBURG – Weyers Cave dairy farmer Gerald Garber has been proactive about putting fences on his land to keep livestock out of the streams where they can pollute water.

But Garber also is of the mind to think that one day the U.S. Envrionmental Protection Agency will make it a law to fence streams on farms.

“There is no advantage to having cattle in the streams,’’ Garber said.

Area farmers who want to practice conservation like Garber can benefit from a Monday announcement by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The NRCS announced the awarding of conservation partnership funds to three organizations that serve the Shenandoah Valley.

Virginia State Conservationist Jack Bricker said the focus is to make the Chesapeake Bay healthier. The Valley is part of the bay watershed.

The money will provide for conservation projects in the Shenandoah Valley such as the stream fencing Garber has installed, Riparian buffers for streams and an improved stream brook trout habitat.

The organizations receiving the partnership monies include $720,000 to the Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development Council based in Verona.
Shenandoah RC&D Chairman John Eckman said area farmers need to sign up by Aug. 15 in NRCS Verona or Harrisonburg offices to be eligible for this year’s funding.

Eckman said the funds should aid the Smith Creek Watershed project in Rockingham and Shenandoah counties.

The watershed is one that runs from north of Harrisonburg to New Market, and includes many pasture areas where livestock roam near streams.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is receiving $110,000, which scientist Kristen Hughes Evans said would be used to improve Shenandoah Valley water quality.

The $32,000 going to Trout Unlimited will foster partnerships with private landowners to improve the Valley brook trout habitat.

Seth Coffman of Trout Unlimited leads the Shenandoah Headwaters Home Rivers Initiative.

Among the project’s goals are to plant shrubs and trees along the banks so brook trout can have cooler waters needed for their survival.

Another objective is to put buffers on land to keep sediment from accumulating in the streams. Sediment takes away the appropriate breeding environment for brook trout, Coffman said.

“We want the trout back,’’ said Coffman, who added that miles of trout habitat have been lost in the area for environmental reasons.

Bricker said announcements like Monday’s are a prime reason the NRCS exists.

“The NRCS was founded on partnership,’ he said.