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Polk County honors farmer and lake group with 2024 stewardship awards
Summary
Polk County Land and Water Resources Department presented 2024 stewardship awards to Frenshu Farms for land stewardship and the Deer Lake Conservancy for water stewardship, recognizing on-farm soil-health practices and a homeowner shoreline-restoration marker program.
Eric Wychek, county conservationist with the Polk County Land and Water Resources Department, presented the department's 2024 Stewardship Awards to local landowners and organizations for measurable work on soil and water conservation. “Each award winner has dedicated a significant amount of time and talent assisting with initiatives to advance soil and water resource management in our county,” Wychek said during the committee meeting.
The Land Stewardship Award went to Greg Frenshu of Frenshu Farms. Wychek and the committee cited Frenshu's use of cover crops, low-disturbance manure injection and farmer-led outreach including conservation field days that demonstrate soil-health practices to peers and youth.
The Water Stewardship Award was presented to the Deer Lake Conservancy for its "Herons Homeowner Project," a voluntary shoreline-restoration program that awards homeowners a heron marker when they maintain a natural 35-foot shoreline buffer with at least 70% native trees, shrubs and groundcover and limit impervious surfaces. Jay Becker represented the Deer Lake Conservancy at the meeting.
Wychek described the nomination and selection process as an internal departmental review of nominees over the course of the year and encouraged other lake associations and landowners to adopt similar conservation practices. The committee offered thanks and invited the awardees to photos following the presentation. The committee took no formal vote beyond the presentation and recognition.
