“Successfully Demonstrating Conservation at Your Office Doorstep”

In April 2002, the Day Conservation District with help from the Jolly Worker’s 4-H Club and members of the Webster Future Farmers of America, constructed a Native Plant Demonstration Plot and Arboretum. The demonstration plot is located behind USDA Service Center’s office building in Webster, South Dakota. Small plots of native grasses and forbs were planted in April 2002 with seeds provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Bismarck Plant Materials Center. Eight varieties of shrubs and trees were also planted that spring. During the fall of 2002, walking paths were constructed, and additional landscaping for a butterfly garden and pond were completed. The spring of 2003, the butterfly garden and pond were planted with several species of perennial flowers and aquatic plants, and several species of trees and shrubs were added to the arboretum. Today the public can view twelve species of native cool and warm season grasses, eight species of native forbs, nineteen species of conservation trees and shrubs, and a butterfly garden and backyard pond demonstration with a variety of perennial and annual flowers.

In addition to the demonstration plot and arboretum, the public can also observe some new technologies available for pasture watering systems. A solar power plant, that operators the filtration system for the district’s backyard pond, demonstrates how the sun can supply power to remote pasture wells. Also, a pasture nose pump demonstrates a simple - cost effective method of preserving riparian areas along lakes, streams, and wetlands while providing water for livestock.