Mark Huizenga: today we're really excited to have with us Rivka Hotchkinson. ⁓ She's the executive director of the Michigan Association Conservation Districts. Rivka, thanks so much for joining us here today. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to talk a little bit more about conservation with you. You know, conservation districts are probably something that everyone's heard a little bit about, but maybe don't really know how long they've been around and what the origin was ⁓ and how they really function. So can you give us a little of background about how they started? Because my recollection is they started actually back in the thirties, because of because of the Dust Bowl, I think. I can't remember where, I'm sure you have a bunch of information that you can share with us. Yeah, absolutely. So conservation districts, you're right, were formed in the 1930s, 1937, officially. It was in response to the Dust Bowl. A lot of farmers obviously experienced a lot of crop loss and soil degradation because of lack of attention to soil health. And Hugh Hammond Bennett was a soil scientist and kind of known as the father of conservation. And he advocated for these local units of government to be created that would be able to work directly with farmers and private landowners on their land. And conveniently, as Congress was discussing the formation of soil conservation districts in Washington, T.C., a giant dust cloud rolled in. So all they had to do was look outside their window and could see the firsthand impacts of not caring for our soil health and our natural resources. ⁓ So out of that, conservation districts were formed. They exist in all 50 states in the United States. There's about 3000 conservation districts nationwide. And there are 75 conservation districts here in the state of Michigan. So that's almost one for every county if there are 75. We have 83 counties in the state of Michigan. Did Congress actually make the breakpoints and the delineation of how that works or how do they become a conservation district? Yeah. kind of governed on a state by state basis. Here in the state of Michigan, the governing authority over conservation districts is the Michigan Department of Ag and Rural Development, MDARD. And so it is more or less county by county. There are a couple of conservation districts that are shared districts, for example, Iron Barraga up in the UP or the Blue Water District is Santa Ana, St. Clair and Macomb counties. And those kind of consolidations have happened due to budget requirements over time. But otherwise it's more or less by county. And that's the best way to find your conservation district is just search your county name, conservation district, and you'll find yours. Well, I'm the Senator for the 30th district, which includes part Kent County and part of Ottawa And I know that each of those counties has their own respective district. you know, the district, the 30th district is, There's something for everybody here. We've got urban, suburban, and rural. And when I think about conservation districts, I first think about the fact that the goal is to try to eliminate and mitigate soil erosion and runoff, ⁓ for farmers ⁓ and for just any sites in general to keep ⁓ soil out of the water. But when we go to Ottawa County where there's far more agriculture, last I had a chance to go to ⁓ conservation district event and man there are farmers out like crazy they want to learn more about how they can not only keep the soil from eroding into the ditches and drains which of course keeps it easier for water to flow when they are there so they don't get clogged up but also what to do for erosion what kind of cover crops to plant and how to put a crop down and what's the right one and and when And I don't know if this is exactly right or not, but it seems like the conservation district is that provider of real source of truth information to help farmers to say, here's the best product that you can plant here for the types of soils you have to eliminate and stop probably both erosion and wind. Would that be a fair statement? I would say, yeah. And I, full disclosure, I am not a technician, nor have I ever played one on TV. I am very glad that we have a wide variety of technical staff at our conservation districts that specialize in various different areas of soil health, water health, and it's both a quantity and quality issue. So making sure the runoff like you talked about, but also that we're not having too many nutrients, excess phosphorus, for example, and nitrogen in our water that can lead to some of those algal blooms. as well as making sure that water penetrates back down into the aquifers where it belongs and doesn't head off to places with runoff that it shouldn't go. And so that is not only things like cover crops that you think of on a farm, but also impact everyday people, the types of plants that we plant in our yards and how we use water on an individual basis as well. Well, and that's a win-win situation. If you think about what's happened in Lake Erie ⁓ in the decade really, we've seen a lot of these algae blooms and it's come back to say, Hey, there's a lot of phosphorus runoff. The algae loves the phosphorus. It's like, if you're an average consumer, a resident in the state, you don't want to go to the beach and see algae and the stuff all over. But also a lot of people get their water from that. And here in West Michigan, we get our water from Lake Michigan. So whatever we can do to stop that is it's in our best interest as well. One of the things that I've learned about conservation districts is not only do you guys help with planting trees, I know you have, at least in Kent County, I've seen where you have a spring sale of trees and a fall sale too. And, to do a couple of things, I believe to show people what kind of trees to plant, what kind of plants grow well in this, this, ⁓ this area of of the country, this Northern climate, but to help them plant the right things that are going to grow well, that aren't going to cause harm. ⁓ And, ⁓ Is that pretty universal that that all conservation districts have these plant sales where they try to both educate and I think raise a little bit of money to help their cause too, right? For sure. ⁓ Yeah, most conservation districts do at least one if not two, as you mentioned in the spring the fall of ⁓ both native trees as well as often native plants. ⁓ A lot times people have the assumption that if ⁓ you go to your local whatever store on the street and buy something from their garden department that it is safe to plant in Michigan, that it's not an invasive species, but that's not necessarily the case. There is no law that says you can't sell invasive plants in our local garden centers. And so it's a really great way to know that what you're planting is safe for the environment. You're not going to unintentionally introduce something that's going to cause harm, not just with the soil, but with other plant and animal species. something that's going to be good for the pollinators in our area and all that kind of good stuff. Well, or bad for pollinators, because I know things like ⁓ the certain ornamental ⁓ pear tree. It was really cool to plant them 20 years ago or so. And all of a it's really been found out that these things spread their flowers and the seeds go all over the place. We have them ⁓ in the roadways and sides and the ditches and the fields and things like that. And they create tremendous amount of pollen. So it's like one of those unintended consequences where boy, we didn't really realize what was going to happen there. That's really not an invasive species, but that's also something that conservation districts do. educate people about plants and trees and shrubs that are actually considered invasive species. Do you have any background in that area at all? Yeah. So a lot of the CISMAs, now we're going to get into the alphabet soup of local government, but that C-I-S-M-A, which stands ⁓ for Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area, ⁓ A lot of those are managed by conservation districts throughout the state. So those help identify and mitigate invasive plant species or other type of invasive species. A big one in West Michigan, for example, is the hemlock woolly adelgid. It came over on hemlock trees that were from outside of the United States that were imported here. And unfortunately, our local hemlock trees don't have any native defenses against this little bug. and can just wipe out the hemlock tree. So that's a case in point example of the importance of understanding all of those unintended consequences, as you mentioned. And conservation districts are great to both help you identify and mitigate invasive species you might have on your property, find out what plants you should be planting that are gonna be most beneficial, and do what you want it to do in the environment in both plants and trees. And in some cases can even come out and look at your property and give you an idea about where to plant it. So it's, educational opportunities as well as one-on-one consultation can sometimes be available. think that's probably one of the greatest things that conservationist districts do is to educate the public. So when we talk about things like invasive species, we hear stories about things like autumn olive, buckthorn and I think the average person might say, I don't think I know what that is. I maybe don't have it in my yard or I didn't plant that here, but these tend to be like hitchhikers where those seeds come across borders. Maybe they did well in another area. Um, maybe it may even be a different continent. And somehow somebody thought it was a great idea to plant them here for maybe even something that sounded good at the time. Let's plant this because it gets really tenacious roots and it'll dig in and it'll help hold back the dirt. Well, Maybe it does, but all of a sudden you've got a real problem because these things are spreading like, like wildfire. And the consequences are worse than people think because they're hard to get rid of. they don't have any natural predators. They maybe generate just a ton of seeds. And so they spread everywhere. I mean, I drive back and forth to Lansing all the time. And so sometimes I'll notice, especially on the, the shoulders or in the median, you'll see like a whole section of just autumn olive. it's just like taking over everything. But that's not only bad for our communities, but if it goes into the woods and to the national forest, the great resources we have here in West Michigan, it can choke things out, choke out animals, create a place where normally you'd have grass growing, where deer would use that to eat and ⁓ that out. Yeah. We have a lot of amazing habitats in Michigan, a lot of amazing agricultural diversity, ⁓ we really want to protect and preserve that. both on farms as well as individual yards. And that makes a difference what we choose to plant, what we choose to do. And conservation districts are here to help. Yeah, that's amazing. Safe drinking is one of these universal issues that I think everybody around the country have. We talked a little bit about how algae bloom and trying ways to find ways to prevent that from happening is really important. What other kind of things do conservation districts help to ⁓ ensure that we have safe drinking water, it's well or coming from Lake Michigan or any other source. Yeah. So those runoff components are a piece of it. ⁓ The nutrients that come from fertilizers and pesticides, not only on farms, but home gardens too. ⁓ And if run off and go into our drinking supply, is not helpful. That can be impacted a by the types of plants that we plant and ⁓ how we direct that flow and making sure that we have those native species and pollinators that are going to help build our entire ecosystem. ⁓ Well, I know the ⁓ laws have changed a lot about We talked about that from a farming perspective, but even with your lawn especially if you're near lake or a stream, I think they've changed the rules on what you can have that. And probably because people advocated and recognize that these phosphorus products were creating ⁓ algae blooms. in small ponds, rivers and lakes all across our state and probably really across the whole country. So I think homeowners can learn a lot about how to fertilize the right way, use the right products and that's that education that comes from a conservation district. you need a lot fewer ⁓ pesticides, insecticides and other amendments when you're doing even your home if you are planting things that are suited for the natural So ⁓ if you have things that The pollinators here are going to like the animals here are going to like, and you have a happy ecosystem. You need a lot less of those chemical things to make everything grow and be beautiful the way you want it to be. last question for you is how do conservation districts support families, not just farmers and understanding what environmental stewardship means. we have one earth, we have one Michigan. We want to take care of it. We want it to be in great shape for our kids and our grandkids. but how to How do conservation districts help educate the general public? So conservation districts never cease to amaze me in amount of diversity and types of educational workshops and events ⁓ that are amazing staff throughout the state. Think up from mushroom workshops to painting a rain barrel ⁓ to learning about native pollinator species ⁓ and anything you can think up. I always people search for their local conservation district. and visit their website, see what events they have coming up. In Ottawa County, we've had an ongoing series called Conservation on Tap, going to local breweries and learning about conservation, or we've got Cultivating Resilience coming up pretty soon, talking to ag industry about conservation. In Kent County, I know that they have a lot of and and for people of all ages, it's not just adults. There's often great opportunities for kids and families too, to get involved. You I think you said it about passion and I think that the people that work at conservation districts are some of the most passionate ⁓ people. Yes, it's their job, but they love it so much it comes right through. And I hear that same sort of passion coming from your voice. Rivka Hoskinson, thank you so much for joining us today on the ⁓ You've been a wealth of knowledge. I'm sure it really. did do in fact what our goal was today to demystify what a conservation district is. Thanks for all you do for our state ⁓ and for all the conservation districts we have. Thank you. Thank you for having me.