ForeverGreen 2024 Issue 1

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2024 Issue 1

Upcoming Board Meetings

Second Thursday every Month @ 4:30 pm

March 13 (note this is a Wednesday)

April 11

KDSWCD Board of Directors

Election 2024

Results

Serving as a Director on the Soil & Water Conservation District Board is a privilege and an opportunity to serve on a local public body that makes decisions and creates programs regarding natural resource conservation in Kane and DuPage Counties.

Constituents in our two Counties cast their votes for three Director positions on February 8, at the KDSWCD office in St. Charles. The 2024 Board of Directors will take their seats at the March 14 Board Meeting and the Officer positions will be determined.

Meet your 2024 KDSWCD Board of Directors:

Melinda Bossenga*

Tom Konen*

William Pauling

Jera Piper*

Maggie Soliz

Thank you to all who voted!

(*Election winners)

Envirothon 2024

SEEKING SPONSORS

We Can't Do This Without YOU!

Each spring, teams of 5 high school students prepare with a teacher/coach to compete in the areas of aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and a current issue in natural resources, For 2024, Envirothon has chosen "Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future". Regional winners advance to the state and then the national competition. The Northeastern Illinois Envirothon is organized by local soil and water conservation districts for high schools in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will, Boone, DeKalb, Lake and Winnebago counties.

Sponsor support ensures

that all eligible students can participate

and that each event is successful!

Any donation amount is welcome - Thank You!

Click HERE to Sponsor

Upcoming Events

CLICK Water Testing Info

Got a Pond?

KDSWCD offers for sale a variety of fish that can be used for stocking ponds, including Triploid Grass Carp which is used for biological weed control (IDNR permit required). Other fish include catfish, bass, bluegill, minnows and redear sunfish!

CLICK Fish Sale Info

Spring Sale ~ Trees, Shrubs & Native Plants

A lovely selection of native plants, shrubs and trees! Create a pollinator habitat, install a border hedge or add a young tree to the Chicago Region’s tree canopy. Some species are limited supply! Northern Illinois Worm Farm will be on hand again this year with fresh worm castings!

CLICK Plant Sale Info

Annual Contest that is part of a larger statewide, and ultimately national competition. Open to all amateur photographers who live in Kane or DuPage Counties with two age divisions, youth and adult aged 19 and up. Contestants can enter as many as five photos in each of the four categories.

CLICK Photo Contest Info & Entry Form

The Soil and Water Stewardship Poster Contest is offered each spring and is open to all K-12 public, private, or home school students that live in Kane and DuPage Counties. “With the forest, the future is.” Posters should emphasize the interconnectedness between forests, conservation and our collective responsibility to safeguard these vital ecosystems.

CLICK Poster Contest Info & Entry Form

Speaking of Soil...

West Virginia and Illinois are ... connected? How?

"For many of us who have studied Illinois geomorphology, the name Teays Valley may ring a bell."

Join KDSWCD Soil Scientist, Mark Bramstedt as he explores...

Meet the Board

Director

Maggie Soliz

A Director at KDSWCD since 2013, Maggie has been a resident of Batavia for 44 years and is a life-long resident of the Tri-Cities along the Fox River in northeastern Illinois. She and husband Dan Soliz are the parents of four grown children and grandparents of seven.

An Illinois licensed real estate professional since 1977, Maggie owns The Soliz Group Real Estate LLC, a real estate sales firm focused on land development, farm sales, and new construction, specializing in green infrastructure.

In 2009, following the real estate market decline, she joined Applied Ecological Services, a leading science-based consulting, design and contracting ecological restoration firm, as a Business Development representative.

AES, now owned by RES shares a very similar mission – a commitment to restore our nation’s land and waters with innovation and ecological integrity, to preserve

the environmental balance for future generations.

Now retired, she continues to bring the message of sustainable solutions through ecological restoration. Maggie reminds stakeholders that everyone has a stake in the future of clean water and healthy soil!

KDSWCD Soil Erosion & Sediment Control

Workshop Recap

What a great turnout for the 21st Annual SESC Workshop!

One hundred and seventy five county, municipal, engineering and contractor

staff members earned continuing education credits.

Presentations by industry experts focused on best management practices for dewatering protocols and in-stream work.

Thank you to our speakers and all who attended!

New Book For Sale

Order Online

$29 includes shipping

or pickup at our office for just $25!

Forager’s guide to 274 wild edibles that helps you to find, identify and harvest them. Each entry includes an introduction to the plant and recommended methods for preparing it, as well as its nutritional information. Color photos and visual descriptions assist in field identification.

Other titles available, plus (for a donation) an array of conservation posters!