Projects

Natural Resource & Forestry Development

Projects are described below. Read through them all, or click on the name of a project to go to its individual description.

Think back to when you were a kid and your parents gave you your first new bicycle. It might have been your birthday or at Christmas. Your eyes opened wide and you had a big smile as you looked at your very own bicycle. Yes, it was something you had always wanted and dreamed about, and now your dream had come true. Now think how there are boys and girls today who will never have that experience. Some families cannot afford to buy their child a bicycle. But now you can help make their dreams a reality.

The Glacial Hills Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Region Inc., a nonprofit rural development organization based in Valley Falls that covers eight counties in northeast Kansas, is partnering with the Lansing Correctional Facility to collect and rehabilitate used bicycles to give to children that need them. The correctional facility has a successful program that provides inmates with the responsibility of rehabilitating used bicycles received from the surrounding communities. They work on the bicycles and with spare parts, paint, and new tires, turn them into “like new” bicycles.

The RC&D collected and delivered over 600 old bicycles to Lansing and brought the “new” bicycles back to be given to children that need them during early December through NEKCAP’s Christmas Bureau.

The public’s participation in this program was overwhelming. Many people had bicycles sitting in their garage or storage shed that they no longer needed, so they were encouraged to donate them to the RC&D. Drop-off points were established in several of the participating counties. It was a win-win proposition of recycling a much sought after holiday gift.

Producers and landowners in 25 counties in the eastern half of Kansas entered into the marketplace for carbon credits this past spring when they signed contracts with the Iowa Farm Bureau to trade their carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange. This is a voluntary pilot project with Nebraska and Iowa that aggregates carbon credits on land either under no-till farming or that had recently been planted to grass. A total of 72 contracts enrolled 74,256 acres under no-till and 1,207 acres under new grass. Payments for carbon credits were not established in the four year contacts, but will be based on the price of carbon on the Chicago Climate Exchange at the time the credits are sold by Iowa Farm Bureau.

The pilot project is sponsored by the Kansas Coalition for Carbon Management, the Kansas Resource Conservation and Development Councils and Kansas State University. The program was offered by the Chicago Climate Exchange, a voluntary, multi-sector market for reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions. The program is administered by the Iowa Farm Bureau, which serves as the aggregator, which is an entity that acts as a middleman between the Chicago Climate Exchange and producers and landowners.

Carbon sequestration is a natural way to store carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. Through photosynthesis, plants take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sink it in plant material above and below the soil surface. The amount of carbon or carbon credits stored varies based on soil type, rainfall, crops and farming practices. Emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere have been increasing rapidly in recent years both in the U.S. and around the world. Carbon sequestration is a natural way to improve soil, water and air quality while also yielding economic benefits to land owners.

The Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (www.casmgs.colostate.edu) is providing the tools and information needed to successfully implement soil carbon sequestration programs so that we may lower the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, while providing income and incentives to farms and improving the soil. Dr. Charles Rice, K-State professor of agronomy, is the national director of the Consortium which includes expert scientists from 10 universities across the country.

Second Planning Grant Approved

A second grant has been received by the Glacial Hills Resource Conservation and Development Region Inc. to complete the Planning phrase of the WRAPS process in the Delaware River Watershed. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is providing financial assistance to this project through an EPA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Grant.

The new Glacial Hills Enterprise Center is a business incubator with facilities in Highland, Perry, and Wetmore created to provide entrepreneurs with the right tools to build a business and be successful. The Center will help entrepreneurs by providing affordable, ready-to-go facilities where new or expanding businesses can operate and prepare for long-term success. The Perry and Wetmore facilities will provide reduced rent office space that includes utilities, along with shared support services such as business counseling, high speed internet, copier, fax, mail box, break and conference rooms. The Highland facility offers somewhat different services. An application process is required to be accepted into one of the Center’s facilities.

Each business in the Center will receive assistance from experienced entrepreneurs that provide counseling in business planning, finance, sales and marketing. They will even learn how to build their business online. A new full-time marketing and e-commerce staff person with the Washburn University Small Business Development Center will be based at the Wetmore facility but will be available at the other locations.

The Glacial Hills Enterprise Center is a collaboration by Glacial Hills Resource Conservation & Development Region Inc., Highland Community College, Washburn University and Kansas University Small Business Development Centers, and the Northeast Kansas Enterprise Facilitation Initiative.

Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) is a venison donation program that has been channeling donated venison to Northeast Kansas food banks since 2001. Each year, HSH has helped to provide needy Northeast Kansans with 12,000 meals of quality, high-protein venison. The effort was initiated by the State Association of RC&D and works with the Kansas Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) venison-feeding program which originated in Maryland.

How does the program work?

Successful hunters are encouraged to donate venison by taking the tagged harvested animal to any of the four participating deer processors in the Glacial Hills RC&D region. These include:

Development Grant Approved

What is NEKCRED?

NEKCRED, the Northeast Kansas Coalition for Regional Economic Development, is a seven-county economic development partnership. Covering the seven rural Northeast Kansas counties of Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson, Marshall, and Nemaha, the coalition is also a partnership with the Glacial Hills Conservation and Development Council, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

Our Mission Statement

"To identify, coordinate and implement regional development efforts which will strengthen the economy of Northeast Kansas."

Efforts to organize a regional coalition began in March 1995 when the area economic development directors met to explore ways to coordinate economic development initiatives. A plan was developed and a formal organization established.

Selected NEKCRED Accomplishments:

Creating Businesses & Jobs

The Northeast Kansas Enterprise Facilitation Initiative received a $200,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce in 2002 to be a part of a pilot project to start five Enterprise Facilitation projects in Kansas. The state was interested in demonstrating the merits of growing a local economy by supporting the dreams and ideas of local entrepreneurs. Glacial Hills Resource Conservation and Development Region Inc. and the Northeast Kansas Coalition for Regional Economic Development took the lead in developing the grant application and have continued to play a leadership role.

Enterprise Facilitation is a “people-centered” approach to community and economic development pioneered in the 1980s by Ernesto Sirolli of the Sirolli Institute. The program seeks to support the passion and ideas of local entrepreneurs and to facilitate the development of those ideas into viable businesses that contribute to community economic vitality.

The program is built around two core concepts: an individual enterprise facilitator and a community resource board. Janet Miller, the Enterprise Facilitator, is the primary contact for the program at the community level. She provides free, confidential business management services to entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in the region. The community resource board supports the facilitator by providing introductions to community leaders and potential clients. The board serves as a key piece of the facilitator’s resource network, providing assistance to the facilitator in meeting the needs of the individual entrepreneurs.

The program has had measurable impacts on the region of Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson and Nemaha counties that it covers. With this program, 35 new businesses have been created, 13 expanded and eight retained. The net results are that 166 jobs have been created or saved over the course of the program. This represents new sources of economic activity that did not exist in the region prior to the implementation of the program.

This program has generated real regional collaboration. Committed local leadership and financial support from local city and county governments and businesses makes this program very successful. Glacial Hills Resource Conservation and Development Region Inc. serves as the legal and financial organization for the program.

Building an Entrepreneurial Region

Across Kansas and the nation, there is a growing interest in entrepreneurship and what it takes to create an entrepreneurial climate. The rationale lies in an opportunity for building a more prosperous and sustainable economy through a rural entrepreneurship development strategy. It means taking the human capital in a region or community and converting a growing proportion of it into entrepreneurial human capital.

The State of Kansas is helping northeast Kansas in building an entrepreneurial region. The Kansas Legislature recently passed the Kansas Economic Growth Act of 2004. The Kansas Rural Business Tax Credit Program created by this act will play a major role in assisting the region with bringing together the necessary resources it needs to be successful. The program will raise funds for rural communities to implement projects that will enhance rural entrepreneurship and small business and job creation in the region.

For the purpose of this program the Northeast Kansas Region includes the counties of Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson, Nemaha, Osage and Shawnee outside the city limits of Topeka. The intent of this program is to help rural areas become more self-sufficient as a result of the increased contributions to business development in the region through the utilization of rural business development tax credits.

The Northeast Kansas Region has received state tax credits which will be converted into $1 million in cash to implement this program. The program offers 75% of a qualifying contribution as a dollar-for-dollar credit to reduce the Kansas income tax owed by contributors to the program. Proceeds are used to invest in businesses and jobs in small towns in Northeast Kansas.

Funds are being used to implement the following plan of action:

Perry Lake is a natural asset that provides rural communities in Jefferson and surrounding counties with jobs, businesses, sales tax, and other economic benefits. The desire to help families, businesses, and communities with capturing more dollars being spent on leisure activities enhances the local economy. Local leaders, business owners and the public need to engage in successful product development and marketing strategies focused on Perry Lake.

A series of public meetings co-sponsored by Glacial Hills Resource Conservation and Development Region Inc., Jefferson County Economic Development Commission, U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks was held during 2005. The Perry Lake Association is the outcome of these efforts that now is incorporated as a nonprofit membership organization with by-laws, officers and goals and objectives.

The objectives of the association include: encouraging expanded lodging and food services around Perry Lake; working with local, state and federal agencies to identify infrastructure deficiencies and develop and promote improvement plans for these; identifying and developing more special events to be held at Perry Lake, focusing on activities that could continue year after year; and working with state and federal agencies to make sport fishing and wildlife habitat enhancements.

Common goals include attracting and retaining visitors to the area; extending their stay to maximize expenditures; and extending the season so a steady flow of tourists exist. Marketing is a way to inform people about what we have to offer, therefore encouraging them to visit the area. If the public doesn’t know what is available, they won’t know to come and visit. The idea is to attract more visitors to Perry Lake, which can mean more customers for local businesses.

Perry Lake is a Corps of Engineers lake that was build for flood control, public water supply, recreation and wildlife habitat. It is part of our public resources and for everybody’s enjoyment. As economic development and other activities begin to increase, we have the responsibility to make sure these public resources are preserved and protected.

Quail and pheasant populations remain lower in northeast Kansas than the long-term trends nationally. Many factors may contribute to this, but quality habitat is the driving force for improving bird numbers. Partnering with Pheasants Forever, Quail Unlimited, & Glacial Hills RC&D along with the cooperation of USDA’S Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), biologists from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) agree that Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands offer an excellent opportunity to improve habitat for upland game birds.

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years.

These fields, although quite productive during the first few years of establishment, quickly become less and less inviting to birds for nesting and brood rearing as the tall native grasses begin to dominate the stands. It has been shown that bird productivity drops off substantially after the field has been established for five years. A few easy management practices can return CRP productivity for pheasants and quail. These include: