Conserving the county

A small group listens closely as Sheffield Mayor Bill Rosenow (center) discusses his concerns about the Hennepin Canal and the U.S. Ecology site near Sheffield. A group of about 30 local state employees and government officials gathered together Wednesday to hear about local conservation problems and possible solutions. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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PRINCETON — It was kind of like the game show “Jeopardy” at the Bureau County Farm Bureau Wednesday.

After a group of about 30 people from across the county heard the possible “answers” or programs that could solve their problems, they were asked to identify what those problems were.

The people were employees or directors of units of government who were called together by the Bureau County Natural Resource Conservation Service to help prioritize conservation issues and concerns of Bureau County and its citizens.

Kim St. John, who is the coordinator of the Prairie Rivers RC & D, asked the audience to break into small groups to discuss their own particular problems.

In one group, Randy Philhower, mayor of Tiskilwa, said he was concerned with the 50-year-old dams keeping water out of his town. Sheffield Mayor Bill Rosenow was concerned about the Hennepin Canal, which he called a “sleeping giant,” capable of breaking out of its banks.

“There are areas that need to be watched,” he said. “The canal’s a great asset, but it’s turning into a mosquito haven.”

After the groups had talked for awhile, St. John asked them to briefly list each concern, which was written on a large sheet of paper.

Some of the concerns were streambank erosion, siltation in ditches, and log jams and sandbars in area streams. Other people were concerned with the large populations of deer and coyotes, and their effect on the county’s ecosystem.

Princeton City Manger Jeff Fiegenschuh mentioned drainage and standing water issues in Princeton, and others listed local oversight of projects, the loss of farmland to development, and nutrient farms such as Goose Pond.

In addition to the Hennepin Canal, Rosenow was also concerned about the U.S. Ecology, a closed chemical landfill and low-grade nuclear dump. Rosenow said everything is still buried, but people are doing a lot of hunting and camping in the area. Zoning Enforcing Officer Kris Donarski added that people also want to build homes in that area.

Additional concerns included erosion along Yankee Lane in the southern part of the county, abandoned wells, and water quality from sewage disposal.

After all the items were listed, St. John combined a few similar items, and then asked everyone to vote on those with the highest priority.

After the voting was completed, the No. 1 resource concern for Bureau County was the lack of available funding. The other top five problems were streambank erosion, local authority for projects, aging infrastructure and water quality.

Rod Kuykendall, who is the district conservationist of the Bureau County Natural Resources Conservation Service, said the information will be used to determine what future conservation programs are needed and how best to implement them.

“Overall, I feel that the meeting was very informative, well attended and well received,” he said.

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series.