Local SWCD to mark Stewardship Week

VW independent/submitted information

In 1955, the National Association of Conservation Districts began a national program to encourage Americans to focus on stewardship. Stewardship Week is officially celebrated from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in May and is one of the world’s largest conservation-related observances.

The program relies on locally led conservation districts sharing and promoting stewardship and conservation activities. Districts provide conservation and stewardship field days, programs, workshops and additional outreach efforts throughout their community to educate citizens about the need to care for natural resources.

Many district activities extend beyond the one-week observance to include an entire year of outreach. The Van Wert SWCD provided a White Flowering Dogwood seedling to each fourth grade student in the county and also a tree presentation in their classroom on the benefits of trees.

The stewardship concept involves personal and social responsibility, including a duty to learn about and improve natural resources as we use them wisely, leaving a rich legacy for future generations.

One definition of Stewardship is “the individual’s responsibility to manage his life and property with proper regard to the rights of others.” E. William Anderson suggests stewardship “is essentially a synonym for conservation.”

Stewardship Week helps to remind Americans of the power each person has to conserve natural resources and improve the world. When people works together with their local conservation district, that power continuously grows.