Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District

Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District The official page of the Coles County (Illinois) Soil & Water Conservation District. It soon became apparent that these federal efforts needed local input. W.S.

In 1934, the worst dust storm in our nation's history set the stage for the formation of the Soil Conservation Service within USDA. By 1935, the federal government was working directly with landowners to try to prevent such a disaster from occurring again. In 1937, President Roosevelt sent a letter to each of the forty-eight states suggesting the formation of local soil and water conservation dist

ricts. Illinois passed the Soil Conservation Districts Law on July 9, 1937, which allowed the state to recognize local soil conservation districts. By the beginning of 1947, seventy-one Illinois counties had organized soil conservation districts but Coles County was not among them. Myers, Farm Advisor for Agriculture and Home Economics (which later became Cooperative Extension Service), Dr. Pete Barton, EIU Professor, and Clifford Homann became convinced of the need for a soil conservation district in Coles County. They began a two-year campaign to education the landowner in Coles County on the benefits of a soil conservation district in their own county. In October 1949, more than the required 55% of all landowners in the country had signed petitions and a public hearing was held in the office of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce. The Coles County Soil Conservation District was officially chartered on December 23, 1949 becoming the 93rd SCD in Illinois. In 1962, the name changed to the Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District. Today, the District's mission is to provide education, leadership, and assistance in order to protect and to promote the wise use of our natural resources, including soil, water, air, plant, and animal, in Coles County, Illinois.

BREAKING NEWS: 🗞️ Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District has a NEW PHONE ☎️ NUMBER!!!! Please call (217) 208...
06/08/2026

BREAKING NEWS: 🗞️

Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District has a NEW PHONE ☎️ NUMBER!!!!
Please call (217) 208-4001 for future questions and inquiries. We appreciate you

Please join AFT and our FLASH group in the From Farm to Faucet field day on June 30th. We will be visiting a local farm ...
06/04/2026

Please join AFT and our FLASH group in the From Farm to Faucet field day on June 30th. We will be visiting a local farm and the Mattoon Water Treatment Plant to discuss how what we do impacts the water around us. Please use the sign up link to RSVP.

🚨 Field day alert! Join American Farmland Trust & Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District for our upcoming From Farm to Faucet field day in Mattoon, IL on Tuesday, June 30! ( https://forms.office.com/r/57Pc9F1HbW )

During this field day you will:
💭 Understand how your farming operation and water treatment plants interact with our local waterways

🌱 Visit Bobby Orman's fields to learn about his in-field practices

✏️ Learn from David Kleinschmidt on the impact of soil health and water

💧 Tour the local water treatment plant with Heather McFarland to understand the flow of water off the fields

The day will include a light breakfast and lunch!

For more info use this link to register by June 22 for our upcoming From Farm to Faucet field day in Mattoon, IL on Tuesday, June 30! www.tinyurl.com/colesfieldday

It was great to see so many people come out last night. The next Watershed Committee meeting will be July 8th, 6pm, at t...
06/04/2026

It was great to see so many people come out last night. The next Watershed Committee meeting will be July 8th, 6pm, at the Mattoon Water Treatment Plant. We will post more information about the next meeting in the coming day.

MATTOON, Ill. (WCIA) — After several ‘do not drink’ orders in 2025, a Coles County city is looking to make sure they have a better handle on the factors causing them going forward…

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is having a field day at Warbler Ridge. This field day will be held Friday, Jun...
05/29/2026

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is having a field day at Warbler Ridge.

This field day will be held Friday, June 5th at Warbler Ridge (Warbler Bottoms E Co Rd 550N, Charleston, IL) thanks to the support of Grand Prairie Friends. It will begin at 9am and end around 11am. The research team will demonstrate the different types of remote sensing, eDNA and field data collection methods that will be used for the project. The overall goal of the project is to develop rapid monitoring tools and technologies for pollinator habitat.

They are asking people to RSVP (using the link below) by June 1st so we have an accurate headcount for the event.

Natural Ecosystem Survey Technologies (NEST) Research Project is a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research study evaluating the effectiveness of emerging monitoring technologies for pollinator habitat on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands in Central Illinois. Learn more at: https://...

05/29/2026

With August being the end of the nesting period, will you be mowing your prairie plantings/ CRP fields this fall?

Mowing, like other management techniques, is a tool in the conservationist's tool belt. It can be beneficial when used in the first year of a new planting to prevent cool season grasses and other invasives from going to seed. However, the annual mowing of a prairie/ CRP field (especially in August) can be detrimental to the planting. Prairies and CRP fields made up of native warm season grasses and forbs suffer immensely from being mowed every year in August.

Native warm season grasses and forbs thrive in heat. Plants like big bluestem, little bluestem, and Indiangrass will be dormant until late May. These grasses will then flower and produce seed mid-August through September. When they are mowed in the fall, they never get the chance to produce seed and reseed the area for the next years' growth. This leaves the cool season grasses (grasses that grow and seed in the early spring and summer) to grow and thrive in place of the planted native warm season grasses.

After just a few years of being mowed annually, most of these native warm season prairies/ CRP fields convert into fields of invasive cool season grasses such as fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. Invasive cool season grasses such as these are difficult to control and eliminate after establishment.

If you usually mow late summer to early fall because you're not sure you have another option to manage the field, reach out to your local farm bill biologist to discuss other management techniques that might work for you.

Find a biologist here:https://www.pheasantsforever.org/Habitat/findBiologist.aspx?fbclid=IwY2xjawSFLylleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFaM2MyVUJRVmk4bEdPVkVxc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiyxGHPau3Ap-DwJn_gvQEf3G335-3iNHfgwE88rU9zKi4N6GTaUyg3jf3G6_aem_uHRdLmsWLSYyZlcxlXXuIQ

Photo Credit: Julia Pinnix/USFWS

05/26/2026
We're getting to that time of year again!
05/21/2026

We're getting to that time of year again!

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos for our annual photo contest. There were many great submissions, but we have ...
05/15/2026

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos for our annual photo contest. There were many great submissions, but we have our 1st place winners in all four categories!

Up Close Conservation- Butterfly Buffett (Sandra Cooper)
Conservation Across America- Close Order Drill (Sandra Cooper)
Conservation Practices- Pasture Paradise (Deb Gough)
Conservation in Action- Power Pole Protector (Sandra Cooper)

These winning photos will be submitted to the NACD State-level competition!

Round two!
05/13/2026

Round two!

Welcome to the Official government website of the Illinois General Assembly

We are asking for your help again! Thank you to all who helped before!
05/13/2026

We are asking for your help again! Thank you to all who helped before!

Help support $10 million in Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts FY27 funding by completing a Witness Slip by 4 p.m. TODAY! Proponent Witness Slip Instructions for HB 4755: 1)Navigate to the witness slip page for 4755: https://ilga.gov/house/hearings/details/3050/22999/CreateWitnessSlip/?legislationId=165887&GaId=18&View=Create
2) Complete the first identification section (Fax # not required)
3) Complete the Representation section:
If you are submitting on behalf of your organization, list them here; Or: If you are filling this out on your own behalf, just put "self".
3) Scroll to the Position section and follow these steps: Select "Original Bill" under the first drop, select "Proponent", and then click the "Add Position" button. You should see the bill populate in the adjacent window with "Proponent" listed.
4) Under Type of Testimony, select “Record of Appearance Only.”
5) Finally, click "Submit Witness Slip" at the bottom of the page

Address

6021 Development Drive, Ste 2
Charleston, IL
61920

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 4:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+12173453901

Website

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