Farm & Livestock Announcements
Poop Smart Clark
We are now accepting cost-share applications for our RCPP Poop Smart Clark funding. This funding covers all of Clark County, but the focus area is the East Fork of the Lewis River and Lacamas watershed. If you are a livestock owner interested in adopting best management practices, please reach out to Sam Frundle, 360-859-4780 ext. 6, or sfrundle@clarkcd.org for more information on how to apply. You can find additional information and resources below.
Farm & Livestock
What are Best Management Practices?
BMPs are researched practices that improve water quality, soil health, wildlife habitat, and other natural resources. The District has a wealth of information concerning water quality, management of small- and large -scale farming operations, and implementation of best management practices (BMPs).
We can provide free planning and financial assistance for many BMPs, including:
Mud and manure management
Manure storage and composting
Rotational grazing systems
Fencing including cross fencing and fencing animals out of streams (not perimeter fencing)
Clark Conservation District offers free assistance to farmers and landowners implementing conservation practices on their land. We provide information and technical assistance about best management practices (BMPs) that address natural resource problems on your property. When you access our knowledge, skills, and abilities, we call that technical assistance. We also work with landowners to access financial assistance for implementing some of these best management practices.
Clark Conservation District is non-regulatory and completely voluntary. We partner with you to voluntarily address resource concerns on your property that help improve water quality, soil health, and other natural resources that affect all of us in Clark County.
Already know what you’re looking for? Contact us!
Working Lands Staff
ag@clarkcd.org
360-859-4780, ext. 6
You can also contact us using our Request for Assistance Form:
Off-stream watering
Heavy use areas
Nutrients and fertilizing
Riparian plantings and wildlife habitat
And more!
While we are not able to provide funding or planning for every BMP project, our staff can also provide free technical assistance to help you understand and adopt conservation BMPs as time and funding allow.
To learn more about livestock and horse BMPs, check out our Manure Matters webinar series for presentations on manure and pasture management. For additional resources on implementing specific best management practices, visit our partner at the WSU Extension Small Acreage Program website.
For more information about project funding eligibility or technical assistance questions, please contact our Working Lands Program Manager.
Samantha Frundle - Working Lands Program Manager
sfrundle@ clarkcd.org | 360-859-4780 ext. 6
What can Clark Conservation District provide?
We provide free planning services for specific best management practices that are needed to address resource problems on your land. These are custom solutions for problems that exist on your property, so the best way to begin is by contacting us and letting us know what resource concerns you need assistance with. If you’ve just moved to a property and want more information to help you get started before working with us, please see here for resources on do-it-yourself conservation planning. Additionally, please note that we are not able to offer crop or animal recommendations.
Because we are completely grant-funded, our small staff focuses on providing assistance that offers the greatest benefits to natural resources in our district. We have to prioritize our planning services to address resource concerns that are tied to our funding. At this time, we are only able to offer planning services to established farms, not prospective ones. However, we work constantly to secure additional funding to address the needs of our district and our available funds change regularly. To stay in touch with us and learn more about our priority areas as they change, sign up for our newsletter here.
What is a Conservation Plan?
A voluntary process to improve natural resource management on your property;
An exploration of management challenges and objectives;
An inventory of natural resources on your property;
A list of recommended alternatives to solve production and natural resource issues.
Conservation Plans are useful management tools tailored to an individual's property that address landowner management goals and challenges, water quality, and other resource issues on the property. Plans are working documents that can be revised as landowner objectives and/or circumstances change. Farms of all sizes can benefit from conservation planning.
Planning is a dynamic process that includes:
Understanding the problems, opportunities, and objectives
Understanding the solutions and alternatives
Implementing, understanding, and evaluating the results.
Each farm plan is crafted for the individual farm. For more information on how you can develop a plan for your farm, please see the resources on our Farm Resources page. To learn more about farm assistance or conservation planning, contact our working lands staff.
ag@ clarkcd.org | 360-859-4780 ext. 6
An example of a rotational grazing system.
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
An example of a manure storage BMP.
This muddy pasture is an example of a natural resource concern that can be addressed with best management practices and conservation planning. Contact us for assistance with addressing resource problems like this one!
