Released: January 23, 2004

Kansas Environmental Group Receives National Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kansas State University’s Kansas Environmental Leadership Program (KELP) was one of four organizations selected recently to receive the eighth annual CF Industries National Watershed Award presented by The Conservation Fund.

The award recognizes model programs that protect local watersheds.

“CF Industries is pleased to recognize the 2003 award winners. The recipients reflect the spectrum of water quality issues we face today and the ingenuity and work ethic that will lead the way in restoring our nation’s watersheds,” said CF Industries’ president Stephen Wilson. “The quality of the programs produced by these groups will allow other watershed groups to implement proven practices.”

K-State’s KELP is a 10-month-long program that focuses on enabling citizens to become better versed in environmental knowledge and hone their leadership skills. Participants participate in a variety of applied leadership projects to gain practical experience.

“Gratemates and Classmates” was one such project in which 100 middle school students were involved in installing and monitoring storm drains to evaluate and demonstrate nonpoint source pollution. Another of the several projects the class undertook was to develop a public education program for Hays, Kan., that educated citizens about the irrigation water needs of various lawn turf grasses and how to select and use turf grasses that conserve water. (For more information about KELP, visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/kelp/.)

Other award recipients included the Potomac Watershed Partnership’s Growing Native Program in Virginia, in which volunteers for the donate time and labor collecting native seed that would otherwise be inaccessible to state foresters. State nurseries and volunteers organized “Nut Patrols” to pick up almost 16,000 pounds of native hardwood seeds. From this collection, half a million seedlings will be planted in stream- and river-side reforestation projects this year.

The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership in Washington state also won the award. The partnership works to protect and restore the nationally significant lower Columbia River and estuary. Its annual Snapshot Monitoring Event draws over 500 volunteers to monitor basic water quality parameters over a two-day period. Elsewhere, project volunteers map habitat, education program volunteers, assist with field trips, and inventory water trail access sites.

The award-winning General Motors GREEN Program has supported the efforts of the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN) since the 1980s by providing employee mentors and financial support to watershed education efforts. In 1999 Earth Force took over GREEN and expanded the program, which engages GM plants, products, educators and young people across the United States and Canada to clean up rivers. In 2002, 186 educators and approximately 5,580 young people participated in projects to improve the health of their watersheds.

The CF Industries National Watershed Award was established in 1996 as an outgrowth of the National Forum on Nonpoint Source Pollution, convened by the National Geographic Society and The Conservation Fund. The goal was to identify and implement innovative, nonregulatory solutions to “nonpoint source pollution” – runoff from farms, construction sites, lawns and parking lots – based on economic incentives, voluntary initiatives and education. The award is administered by The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va., that acts to protect land and water resources.

CF Industries is a major producer and distributor of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products and owns and operates fertilizer distribution facilities in 10 states. CF is owned by and serves eight regional cooperatives and is headquartered in Long Grove, Ill.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter, News Coordinator
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News