MECHANICSBURG – On Thursday, March 17, the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District (Champaign SWCD) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a shelter house to be built on the Lintner Conservation Farm located at 6666 Catawba Mechanicsburg Road, Mechanicsburg. The 100-plus acre farm, donated by Newell Lintner, was given to the Champaign SWCD with the intent to use the land to promote conservation.
“The Lintner farm was donated to us around 16 years ago, with the intent to promote conservation to the public. We are getting ready to break ground on a shelter house, being built by Godsil Services, LLC,” said Champaign SWCD Office Manager Melissa Godsil. “After the shelter house is built, we will be putting in tile to help preserve soil in the fields and planting a wildflower garden, amongst other improvement projects. This will be a great place for public events or to learn about conservation.”
The SWCD has completed many projects over the years including tearing down several old buildings on the farm and adding almost 3 acres worth of grass waterways to fix existing erosion and prevent it in the future.
“This was a blessing to the district because even though we had enough funds to operate, we never had any extra funds to do anything with,” said Dale Goddard, district technician. “Now that we inherited the farm, we cash rent the farmland to a local farmer so we get money from that which helps us to be able to afford things such as an ATV we use for surveying and daily activities.”
“Our office is not paid, it is a voluntary sponsorship we do for the state,” said Godsil. “Being able to have that ATV to go around the fields and take pictures for farmland preservation helps us because that is not something we get funding for.”
“Over the last couple of years, what we have generated off the farm, we have been able to put back into it,” said supervisor Justin Dagger.
The shelter house will be 30 feet by 40 feet with a concrete floor and electricity. It will be used to house meetings and large groups. Construction is set to begin on April 1.
