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Illinois conservation districts wrestling with stagnant, inadequate funding
The executive director of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts says the state’s new budget is disappointing.
“Unfortunately, we were held level for the third year in a row at $4.5 million for operations funds.”
Eliot Clay says the funding level is $4 million less than what local districts received three years ago.
“This has really been very difficult for districts across the state.” He says, “$4.5 million equates to roughly $38,000 per district. And ideally, we’ve got two employees in each one. It’s just unsustainable.”
He tells Brownfield that most districts have utilized reserves to keep staffing adequate in recent years, however…
“Some of them are operating on less than 12 months funding.” He says, “There’s a very good chance that we’re going to start seeing furloughs this year and possible layoffs as a result of all of this.”
Clay says the state funding concerns coupled with federal staffing cuts at agencies like NRCS are making it more difficult for farmers to incorporate conservation practices into their operations.
AUDIO: Eliot Clay – AISWCD
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