Oldham County Conservation District reviews programs, hands out trees and scholarships

The Oldham County Soil and Water Conservation District presented its annual report to the fiscal court on April 1, updating officials on outreach programs, cost‑share grants, and youth education initiatives.

Rosalyn Streeter and Mary Lowry summarized district activities for fiscal 2024 and early 2025, saying the district provides free conservation advice to residents and works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and local partners.

Highlights included a pollinator cost‑share program that reimburses 50% of native‑plant costs up to $150; the district approved 53 applications (113 total participants) for the program this year. The district also runs a Geo Bin composting program in partnership with the public library, Extension, Solid Waste & Recycling and volunteers and reported hundreds of participants in recent years.

Streeter said the district has taken over administration of CAPE and YAPE youth programs and reported distributing approximately $60,000 in CAPE grants in 2023. A dead‑animal removal grant (DAR) provided $5,000 from the state conservation division for removal assistance. The district offers free or reduced‑cost soil testing and said 245 soil samples were processed countywide in the last year.

The district’s annual tree giveaway distributed more than 2,500 seedlings this year, with families eligible to take up to 10 seedlings per household. The district also reported winners in art and writing contests and two scholarships (the Glenn Watson scholarship) for seniors pursuing conservation‑related education.

District leaders invited fiscal‑court members to the awards banquet and offered to provide a copy of the presentation slides.