Bee County SWCD encourages you to think about your personal responsibility to be a good steward of all natural resources, including soil, during its annual Stewardship Week celebration

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has proclaimed April 26-May 3, 2009, as Stewardship Week.

2009 Stewardship Week is themed “DIG IT! The Secrets of Soil.” Correlating education materials were developed based on an exhibition created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and sponsored by the Soil Science Society of America and the Nutrients for Life Foundation.

Soil supports forests, wetlands, grasslands, tundra and aquatic ecosystems. Soil makes up the outer layer of the earth’s surface, it nourishes the plants we eat, the animals we use for food and fiber and the thriving underground kingdom of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, earthworms and other microbes that are critical to the planet’s food web.

Soil directly and indirectly effects agricultural production, water quality and climate. Thanks to the earth’s soils, most of the rainfall hitting the planet is trapped and absorbed, watering plants and replenishing aquifers, rivers, lakes and streams.

Troy Berthold acts as the chairman for Bee County SWCD. The district was formed to assist people in Bee County with soil and water conservation and stewardship.

Bee County SWCD is a member of the National Association of Conservation Districts (www.nacdnet.org) which oversees the Stewardship Week program. Stewardship Week is one of the largest national annual programs to promote conservation. NACD represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, which were established to encourage resource conservation across the country.

For information about Stewardship Week and conservation, contact the Bee County SWCD at 361-358-3343, ext. 3. Visit www.nacdnet.org to learn more about NACD and Stewardship Week.