News Release 231

MEDIA ADVISORY:
OZARK COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT WILL RECEIVE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIRECTOR'S AWARD

Volume 36-231

Contact: Jessica Royston

(For immediate release)

573-751-1373

April 30, 2008

WHO: Bill Wilson, deputy director of the department's Soil and Water Conservation Program, Ozark County Soil and Water Conservation District.

WHAT:  The Ozark County Soil and Water Conservation District has been selected to receive the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Implementation of Best Management Practices on Grasslands.

WHEN:  6 p.m., May 1

WHERE:  Vaught's Restaurant and Motel, 1 Junction Highway 5 and Highway 160, Gainesville

WHY:  Bill Wilson will be presenting the Director's Award to Ozark County at its annual meeting. Best Management Practices, including intensive grazing systems, permanent vegetative cover establishments and permanent vegetative cover improvements, were implemented on 5,250 acres of grassland in Ozark County Soil and Water Conservation District in fiscal year 2007. These practices reduce erosion and improve water quality by increasing the amount of quality forage available on grasslands.

Missouri's 114 soil and water conservation districts work with agricultural landowners and the public to conserve the state's soil and water resources. The districts are funded by the one-tenth-of-one-percent parks, soils and water sales tax.

For more information, contact the Department of Natural Resources' Soil and Water Conservation Program at 573-751-4932 or the department toll free at 800-361-4827.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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