BATAVIA, Ohio (Aug. 24, 2018) – In August 1943, Clermont County held a referendum where an extraordinary 97 percent of the voters supported the creation of a soil conservation district. This year, the Clermont Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) is celebrating 75 years of conservation with a diamond anniversary open house and dinner banquet on Thursday, Sept. 13, at Shaw Farms, 1737 SR 131 in Miami Township.
Soil & Water Conservation Districts rose throughout the United States following the Dust Bowl era in the 1930s. In 1943, the Clermont Soil Conservation District was the 13th district created in Ohio. Early efforts in Clermont County focused on drainage, erosion control, terracing, strip cropping and assistance with pond building. The district did not receive county or state funds until the 1950s.
In 1961, the district’s mission expanded to include water quality, and its name was changed to the Clermont Soil & Water Conservation District. It was during the 1960s that Clermont SWCD increased its education in schools and began compiling the first county soil survey. Following changes to the Clean Water Act in 1987, a greater emphasis was placed on storm water programs, and in the 1990s and 2000s, Clermont SWCD initiated and strengthened water quality protection efforts in the East Fork Little Miami River watershed.
Today, Clermont SWCD’s efforts place an emphasis on both building soil quality and reducing nutrient runoff from agricultural fields, managing storm water runoff in urban areas to reduce drainage problems and to prevent pollutants from washing into nearby streams, and working with members of the East Fork Watershed Cooperative to control harmful algal blooms on Harsha Lake.
“Since our district’s creation, we have worked hand in hand with farmers to help encourage practices that improved the quality of their soil,” said SWCD Administrator John McManus. “But over the last several decades our scope has expanded. Our focus is on encouraging farmers and homeowners to be good stewards of our water and soil, and to keep our watershed as healthy as possible.”
The diamond anniversary festivities, sponsored by Farm Credit Mid-America and Park National Bank, will begin at 5 p.m. and will include music from Full Moon Ranch, a mobile aquarium from the Newport Aquarium, hayrides, children’s activities with area naturalists, and displays looking back at 75 years of conservation in Clermont County.
The banquet dinner and meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. Dinner will be provided by Taste of the Good Life catering and local beer from Old Firehouse Brewery and wine from O’Bannon Creek Vineyards will be served.
Admission to the pre-dinner activities is free. Pre-registration is required for the diamond anniversary dinner. Tickets are $12 for adults and $4 for children between the ages of 5 and 12, and may be purchased online at www.clermontswcd.org. For more information, contact Susie Steffensen at 513. 732.7075 ext. 2 or at ssteffensen@clermontcountyohio.gov.
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BATAVIA, Ohio – Interested in learning more about county government? Have you ever seen a K-9 team in action? Do you want to find out more about the county’s Opiate Task Force? If so, please join us in April during National County Government Month.
Clermont County will hold several open houses and activities during the month.
The public is invited and is asked to register at https://clermontcountyohio.gov//national-county-government-month or call Kathleen Williams at 513.732.7597, or email her at kwilliams@clermontcountyohio.gov.
Saturday, April 7
Celebrate the outdoors at Sycamore Park
10 a.m.-noon: Nest Fest at Sycamore Park. Learn how to identify bird eggs and nests, use your “owl eyes” for our egg hunt and meet birds of prey up close thanks to our friends at RAPTOR Inc.
Address: 4082 SR 132, Batavia
Meet your new pet
1-2 p.m.: Meet the folks at the Clermont Animal CARE Humane Society animal shelter, 4025 Filager Road, Batavia. The new managers of the animal shelter will talk about their philosophy and initiatives. You can also meet the dogs and cats available for adoption.
Address: 4025 Filager Road, Batavia
Thursday, April 12
Celebrating successes in the opiate epidemic fight
2-3:30 p.m.: Join Clermont County’s Opiate Task Force as it celebrates Ohio’s ‘A Week of Appreciation,’ Batavia Township Community Center. Learn more about the task force’s accomplishments, initiatives and resources as it thanks those who have been on the front lines of fighting this epidemic. Light refreshments.
Address: Batavia Township Community Center, 1535 Clough Pike, Batavia
Saturday, April 14
Rendezvous on the River
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Help the Clermont County Park District celebrate spring and National County Government Month with the season-opening event at Chilo Lock 34 Park. We’ll have food, fun and special guests on every floor of the Visitors Center from noon to 3 p.m. Enjoy the playground, hike the trails and watch the mighty Ohio River from the boat ramp or the observation deck all day long.
Address: 521 County Park Road, Chilo (off U.S. 52)
Thursday, April 19
Ensuring public health
2-3 p.m.: Public Health is more than just flu shots. Visit your Public Health officials at the Clermont County Public Health Nursing Division to see what it takes to protect the health of Clermont County and its residents.
Birth certificates, flu shots, septic system inspections, plumbing permits, restaurant inspections, WIC, free car seats for needy families, and reducing drug overdoses in the community are just a few of the things that Public Health does. Stop by for an open house and talk to your public health department.
Address: 2400 Clermont Center Drive, Suite 200, Batavia
Enforcing laws & protecting citizens
6 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: Tour the Sheriff’s Office. See the Crime Lab. In the parking lot, see a demonstration by the K-9 unit, and the Special Response Team – including a robot used in dangerous situations.
Address: 4470 SR 222, Batavia – please park in adjacent Municipal Court parking lot
Saturday, April 21
Spring Litter Clean-Up
This annual volunteer event is held in communities throughout Clermont County. Appreciate our county’s beauty? Volunteer to be part of this countywide event – whether in cities, townships and villages, along the Little Miami and East Fork, or at East Fork State Park. Find out more information here: https://www.springlittercleanup.com/. #GreenClermont
Tuesday, April 24
Protecting our water & environment
10-11:30 a.m.: Tour the Bob McEwen Water Treatment Plant and learn how water from Harsha Lake becomes drinking water. And learn more about how we are protecting our watershed from the Office of Environmental Quality and Soil & Water Conservation District. #GreenClermont
Address: 3960 Greenbriar Road, Batavia
Disability awareness
4-6 p.m.: Learn about services offered by the Clermont County Board of Developmental Disabilities, as well as other agencies in the Tri-State area that serve children and adults with disabilities. Members of the Clermont County Voices self-advocacy group will be available to give facility tours and answer questions about the challenges they have faced in their everyday lives.
Address: 2040 US Highway 50, Batavia
#LeadingTheWay
#CountiesMatter
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REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (March 15, 2018) – The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Service (USDA APHIS) today announced that Batavia and Stonelick townships in Clermont County are free from the invasive Asian longhorned beetle (ALB).
“With long days and hundreds of thousands of trees surveyed, this declaration today is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our state, federal and local partners,” said David T. Daniels, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. “It is this collaboration that will achieve continued success in the fight to rid Ohio of this destructive pest.”
Daniels was joined by USDA APHIS representatives, as well as community leaders at an announcement ceremony and tree planting at the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, an area contained within the previous Batavia and Stonelick quarantine area.
ODA and USDA APHIS will move to lift the quarantine of Stonelick and Batavia townships, reducing the regulated areas of Clermont County from 62 to 57 square miles. The beetle was first discovered in Tate Township in Clermont County in June 2011. ALB quarantines remain in effect for Tate Township, East Fork State Park, portions of the East Fork Wildlife Area and a portion of Monroe Township.
“While we are thrilled with the announcement today, we still ask residents to remain vigilant and inspect their trees regularly for signs of the beetle,” said Matt Beal, chief of the ODA division of Plant Health. “This satellite infestation was detected by an alert property owner and it is this type of awareness that will help us toward our goal of eradication.”
Adult ALBs are large, shiny black insects measuring 1 to 1 ½ inches long, not including antennae, with random white spots. Their white-banded antennae can be as long as the body itself on females and almost twice the body length on males.
Signs of infestation include perfectly round exit holes (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter) made by adult beetles when they emerge from trees; pockmarks on tree trunks and branches where female beetles deposit eggs; frass (wood shavings and saw dust) produced by larvae feeding and tunneling; early fall coloration of leaves or dead branches; and running sap produced by the tree at the egg laying sites or in response to larval tunneling. The beetle will infest various common trees in Ohio, including all species of maple, buckeye, willow and elm.
To report signs or symptoms of ALB, call the Ohio ALB Eradication Program Office at 513-381-7180 or report online at asianlonghornedbeetle.com.
(Press release by the Ohio Department of Agriculture)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (July 10, 2017) – The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) announced on July 10 the addition of 576 acres of the East Fork Wildlife Area to the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) quarantine zone in Clermont County. The addition increases the total square miles regulated for the beetle to 62 square miles, up from 61 square miles. The movement of hardwood logs, firewood, stumps, roots and branches within these regulated areas is prohibited.
The quarantine expansion is the result of newly discovered infested trees found in late 2016 within the Williamsburg Township portion of the East Fork Wildlife Area, south of Clover Road. ODA and USDA APHIS tree inspection crews surveyed trees in the area, and infested and high-risk tree removals are occurring as part of the ALB eradication effort. A map of the regulated area can be found here.
East Fork Wildlife Area consists of 2,705 acres that are managed by the ODNR Division of Wildlife for public hunting and fishing in southwestern Ohio. It is unlawful for any person to remove wood from a wildlife area without first obtaining approval.
Adult ALBs are large, shiny black insects measuring 1 to 1 ½ inches long, not including antennae, with random white spots. Their white-banded antennae can be as long as the body itself on females and almost twice the body length on males.
Signs of infestation include perfectly round exit holes (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter) made by adult beetles when they emerge from trees; pockmarks on tree trunks and branches where female beetles deposit eggs; frass (wood shavings and saw dust) produced by larvae feeding and tunneling; early fall coloration of leaves or dead branches; and running sap produced by the tree at the egg laying sites or in response to larval tunneling. The beetle will infest various common trees in Ohio, including all species of maple, buckeye, willow and elm.
To report signs or symptoms of ALB, call the Ohio ALB Eradication Program Office at 513-381-7180 or report online at asianlonghornedbeetle.com.
Contacts:
Brett Gates, Ohio Department of Agriculture, (614) 752-9817
Matt Eiselstein, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, (614) 265-6860
COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 4, 2017) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced a new conservation effort for Ohio agriculture producers to help combat future declines of honeybees and Monarch butterflies by providing food and habitat sources. Through May 19, producers may apply for funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to plant cover crops, or plant milkweed, wildflowers, and native grasses in buffers and areas not in production.
More than 80 percent of the world’s plants need pollinators to survive, including many that provide the food we eat. But many pollinators like honeybees and Monarch butterflies are in trouble. That’s why NRCS works with private landowners to create food and habitat for pollinators on farms and in forests. In total, more than 3 dozen NRCS conservation practices provide benefits to pollinators.
For more information regarding the Pollinator EQIP sign-up in Clermont or Brown County, contact Lori Lenhart, NRCS District Conservationist, at lori.lenhart@oh.usda.gov, or 513.732.2181 ext. 3.
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BATAVIA, Ohio (March 9, 2017) – Interested in learning more about county government and how your tax dollars are spent? Clermont County is celebrating National County Government Month – April – by holding open houses on consecutive Tuesdays in April. The public is invited and is asked to register at www.clermontcountyohio.gov/national-county-government-month or call Kathleen Williams at 513.732.7597.
Tuesday, April 4: Meet Your Commissioners
10-11 a.m.: 101 E. Main St., Batavia, Third Floor
Meet the Commissioners in Session Room. Learn about the basics of county government, the BCC’s responsibilities, what’s on tap for 2017. Q&A.
Tuesday, April 11: #GreenClermont – Protecting our water & environment
10 a.m.-noon Bob McEwen Water Treatment Plant, 3960 Greenbriar Road, Batavia
Take a tour of the plant and learn from our Water Resources team how water is treated in Clermont County. Q&A. Also participating: Office of Environmental Quality and Soil & Water Conservation District.
Tuesday, April 18: Law, Order and Justice
11 a.m.-noon: Sheriff’s Office , 4470 SR 222, Batavia
Meet Sheriff Leahy and his chiefs. What is the Sheriff’s Office responsible for? What are its biggest challenges? Q&A.
Concurrent:
1-2 p.m.: Municipal Court, 4430 SR 222, Batavia: Representatives from Municipal Court, the Prosecutor’s Office and Public Defender’s Office talk about their roles and how the court functions. Q&A.
1-2 p.m.: Common Pleas Court, 270 E. Main St., Batavia: Representatives from Common Pleas Court, the Prosecutor’s Office and Public Defender’s Office talk about their roles and how the court functions. Q&A.
Tuesday, April 25: Supporting Families & Healthy Living
10 a.m.-11 a.m.: Representatives from Children’s Protective Services, Child Support Enforcement, and Developmental Disabilities on how their agencies make a difference. Q&A.
11 a.m.-noon: Representatives from Clermont Public Health and Mental Health & Recovery Board talk about their initiatives and challenges. Q&A.
Both sessions at Engineer’s Training Room, 2381 Clermont Center Drive, Batavia.
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Driving around Clermont County, residents and visitors may have noticed these new signs being installed along some major thoroughfares.
As you can see, the signs define the borders of Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) quarantined areas in the county. The ALB is a destructive insect that threatens the state’s hardwood forests and the multi-billion dollar forestry and nursery industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. The bug was first detected in Tate Township in 2011.
Besides the bug’s natural movement, infestations of ALB can spread through human-assisted movement of firewood and other wood products. It is this type of movement that resulted in the infestations and subsequent quarantined areas in portions of Monroe, Stonelick and Batavia Townships and the type of movement we at the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) are hoping to avoid.
The signs detail the prohibitions on removal of wood from these quarantined areas, enforced by the Ohio ALB Eradication Program, a partnership between the U.S. and Ohio Departments of Agriculture. The program encourages individuals to contact the ODA at 513-381-7180 with any questions regarding the quarantines or to report any wood movement. Please be aware of the regulations in place before moving any wood product, and to keep an eye out for these signs when traveling. You can also visit http://www.agri.ohio.gov/topnews/asianbeetle/ to view quarantine maps and get additional information regarding the ALB.
Even if you are not driving through these quarantined areas, it is always good practice not to move wood long distances. The Don’t Move Firewood campaign encourages individuals to “Buy Local and Burn Local” and not risk the movement of different forest pests. You can find out much more information on their website at www.dontmovefirewood.org.
For more information, contact 513.381.7180 or email plantpest@agri.ohio.gov.
BATAVIA, Ohio (Jan. 11, 2017) – The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is currently accepting applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). CSP is the largest conservation program in the United States with 70 million acres of productive agricultural and forest land enrolled.
CSP helps agricultural and forestry producers build on existing conservation efforts while strengthening their operations. Most that are approved to participate in CSP have already been implementing conservation practices on their land. CSP offers more than 200 enhancements for those practices.
Once enrolled in CSP, the producer will have a one-on-one consultation with the NRCS conservation planner to evaluate the current operations and the natural resources on the property. Then the planner will determine if current activities meet stewardship eligibility, and will assist the producer in identifying additional enhancements to consider based on existing conservation practices, such as cover crops or precision agriculture. After the enhancements that best fit the operation are selected, CSP offers annual incentive payments for installing these activities on the land.
Applicants must have control of the land they want to enroll for a minimum of five years to be eligible. Producers interested in the program should contact the NRCS office prior to Feb. 3. Additional information on the program is located at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/csp. Producers in Clermont and Brown Counties should contact Lori Lenhart, NRCS District Conservationist, at 513.732.2181 ext. 3, or by email at lori.lenhart@oh.usda.gov.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Nov. 18, 2016) – The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) today announce the discovery of Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) infested trees in a section of the East Fork Wildlife Area in Clermont County.
The center of the newly discovered infestation is within the Williamsburg Township portion of the East Fork Wildlife Area, south of Clover Road. Tree inspection crews will continue to survey the area and surrounding areas to determine the extent of the infestation. Using ground surveyors and specially trained tree climbers, crews will inspect host tree species susceptible to ALB for signs of the wood-boring beetle. Any trees found to be infested will be removed as part of the eradication effort.
Once the extent of the infestation is evaluated, ODA will move to expand the ALB quarantine to include additional areas near the new infestation. When available, a map of the regulated areas will be posted at agri.ohio.gov.
“With more than $2.5 billion in standing maple timber and a $5 billion dollar nursery industry that employs nearly 240,000 people, it is vital we do all we can to keep this tree-killing pest from spreading across Ohio,” said David Daniels, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. “We appreciate the patience and understanding of local communities as we continue to work with our partners in this eradication effort.”
East Fork Wildlife Area consists of 2,705 acres that are managed by the ODNR Division of Wildlife for public hunting and fishing in southwestern Ohio. It is unlawful for any person to remove wood from a wildlife area without first obtaining approval.
The beetle was first discovered in Tate Township in Clermont County in June 2011. Currently, 61 square miles are regulated, which include all of Tate Township and East Fork State Park, a portion of Monroe Township and a portion of Stonelick and Batavia townships.
Adult ALBs are large, shiny black insects measuring 1 to 1 ½ inches long, not including antennae, with random white spots. Their white-banded antennae can be as long as the body itself on females and almost twice the body length on males.
Signs of infestation include perfectly round exit holes (about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter) made by adult beetles when they emerge from trees; the pockmarks on tree trunks and branches where female beetles deposit eggs; frass (wood shavings and saw dust) produced by larvae feeding and tunneling; early fall coloration of leaves or dead branches; and running sap produced by the tree at the egg laying sites or in response to larval tunneling. The beetle will infest various common trees in Ohio, including all species of maple, buckeye, willow and elm.
To report signs or symptoms of ALB, call the Ohio ALB Eradication Program Office at 513-381-7180 or report online at asianlonghornedbeetle.com.
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