VW SWCD to celebrate Stewardship Week

The Van Wert Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) wants to remind are residents that each of them has a responsibility to be a good steward of natural resources during the annual Stewardship Week celebration.

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) is celebrating the 56th year of Stewardship Week during April 24-May 1. The 2011 Stewardship Week is themed “Forests for People — More Than You Can Imagine.” Trees provide people with shade, wood products and fuel, as well as help clean the air.

Bob Gehres acts as the chairman for the Van Wert SWCD. The local SWCD District was formed to assist people in Van Wert County by protecting and conserving the natural resources for all residents by providing technical, educational, and financial assistance.

During Stewardship Week, the Van Wert SWCD will be providing a presentation and seedling to each fourth grade student in the county and Stewardship Week placemats will be in area restaurants.

“Understanding the importance of forests in our daily lives is the key connection of the 2011 NACD Stewardship theme,” says NACD President Gene Schmidt. “Forests play a critical role in providing clean water, healthy wildlife habitat, as well as jobs for our citizens and products that we use every day.”

Van Wert 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 Van Wert SWCD at 1185 Professional Drive in Van Wert or on the web at www.vanwertswcd.org.  Additional information about forestry education is available on the NACD website at www.nacdnet.org/education/resources.