Joanne Williams
Editor
(Courtesy photo – The Van Aken farm in Eaton Rapids stands the test of time as a Michigan Centennial Farm.)
Land preservation has long been a tradition in this soon to be 250-year-old country. President Ulysses S. Grant began with Yellowstone in 1872, and public, private, trusts, and farmland preservation quickly followed. Why?
Land is a valuable resource, and protection is the key that includes land in Michigan and all around us. The USDA says about 70% of U.S. land is privately owned.
According to the Eaton Conservation District, on July 7, 1946, the Thornapple Grand Soil Conservation District was formed as a local unit of government with a five-member elected board. In the wake of the Dustbowl, the worst ecological disaster in known history, Michigan had passed legislation to form locally-led ‘Soil Conservation Districts’ to teach farmers practices that would help them protect their soil.”
One of the local organizers was the late Herbert Van Aken of Eaton Rapids. He retired in 1975 after 28 years of service as a director on that board, according to family records.
Eighty years later, the name has changed to Eaton Conservation District (ECD), and the mission has expanded to include all natural resources and all residents.
The work remains as urgent as ever with new challenges. That is why the board and staff of ECD are proud that in the last 80 years, the District has helped to plant more than a million trees, improve soil health and water quality, combat habitat loss, enhance urban green spaces, educate generations in the community, deliver millions of dollars to Eaton County through a close partnership with NRCS, and most importantly, build trust with landowners.
The urgency is the protection piece of the land preservation puzzle. Land is living and evolving. Rachel Cuschieri-Murray, executive director of the ECD, wishes “there was more time in the day” to address all issues environmental.
The district, which receives no direct federal funding, counts on grants and donations and “so many awesome” partners to accomplish the work that they do. The work being done is essential and conservation districts are a state-mandated form of local government. Therefore, according to the ECD, the District financially operates as a non-profit, through project-based grants and appropriations, and fundraising efforts, such as the Spring Tree Sale/Reforestation Fundraiser (now underway), a Native Plant Sale, sponsorships and donations.
Cuschieri-Murray writes that supporters of local conservation can help continue the mission by buying trees, donating, and volunteering.
Also, in this 80th year of service, the community is invited to share its stories and photos on the website at www.eatoncd.org or drop them off at the office at 551 Courthouse Drive, Ste. 3, Charlotte. Photos and stories that are collected will be shared with the community and then sealed into a time capsule to be opened in 2046 on 100th birthday of the District.
That’s just like the ECD, always looking ahead.
Looking back, the ECD does have folks like Van Aken to thank. The served at state and national levels of the District movement and was an organizer and president of the Michigan Association of Soil Conservation Districts.
Family remember him being called “Mr. Conservation” in Michigan. He was particularly on the side of the farmer, family remember, because he witnessed the devastation of the Dust Bowl era on America’s land and people. Daughter Ruth Abbott conveys, “As Herb sees it, soil and water conservation is really the conservation of people.”
