Property owners land kudos

John and Janey Powers' old Bay Area friends can't figure out what's going on at their Kentucky Flat Road ranch just outside Grass Valley.

"They call and ask, 'What do you do up there?' " Janey said with a laugh.

"We're probably busier now than we've ever been," John said.

Since moving to their property in 1999, the Powers have turned a field full of tarweed into a beautiful stand of four-foot fescue grass. The former weed patch will soon produce hay for sale and feed the Powers' three horses. It is currently the stomping grounds for 60 wild turkeys.

Their clearing work, along with composting, pond-stocking and the installation of solar panels on the barn, earned the couple an award from the Nevada County Resource Conservation District for land stewardship. Another couple and three individuals also have been honored by the district as Conservationists of the Year.

"We enjoy working with nature," said John, a former software engineer. "It's not a Silicon Valley thing where you apply brute force and brainpower to make it go. You have to work with nature."

"I just feel we're all just conservators of the land," said Janey, a former financial marketer. "We want to leave it better."

Following are short profiles of each of the other award recipients:



Pat and Sarah Ellis

The Ellises figured the least they could do was honor Sarah's father.

Tom Dargie was blinded by an explosion in combat at Okinawa. After World War II, he somehow managed to build 640 acres on McCourtney Road, southwest of Grass Valley, into a cattle ranch.

Pat came to help when his father-in-law's health began failing.

"And then he died," Sarah said. "My sister didn't want to take it on," so she and Pat did in 1999.

"There were only 29 cows when we got here, and the place was in disrepair," Pat said. As they began expanding the herd, they sought more grazing land.

They began clearing brush and intensely thick manzanita. To maximize output, they sought the conservation district's expertise about what to plant and where. They were astounded to find the conservation district had a soil survey and planting recommendations. Then they learned about a grant program to help pay for the work.

After clearing 25 acres, the Ellises utilized a district machine called the no-till drill to plant. The drill is pulled behind a tractor and doesn't dig up the ground. Instead, the drill acts like a disker, cutting shallow rows while simultaneously planting and fertilizing.

"One year, we had solid brush; the next year, a nice stand of grass," Pat said. That grass is used for hay, grazing and attracting wildlife, including deer and wild turkeys.

"It's great any time you can make improvements on your property and get reimbursed."



Alan Haight

Alan Haight also used the no-till drill. He wanted to put down a cover crop in his orchard and create pasture for his goats.

The cover crop "protects the soil during the winter, and in the spring I till it in," Haight said from his small organic farm at the end of Cement Hill Road northwest of Nevada City.

Haight also used conservation district help to put in an irrigation system, prune fruit trees and build a pond. His dream is to turn his farm into an agricultural education center for area high school and college students.

"It's a fun place for kids," said U.S. Department of Agriculture conservationist Ron Zinke, who works out of the same office as the county conservation district. "He's got ponds for wildlife and fishing. It's just a real interesting place."



Pat Norris

"When I bought this place, it was full of weeds," said Pat Norris of his four acres in Penn Valley. "It's producing hay now."

The elder Norris also used the no-till drill to control the weeds, produce the hay for sale and just make the community look better. What was once a weed-infested plot is now an ideal area for deer.

"Last year we had a doe have her fawn out in the middle of it," Norris said. With the spring rains this year, the improved land produced grass that grew almost up to Norris' shoulders. "It went crazy," he said.



Bob Lawton

Bob Lawton didn't use a no-till drill in the last few years to get his award. He earned it for work he did with USDA conservation help 30 to 35 years ago.

His father bought and mined his land, but when Lawton took over the You Bet Road area plot east of Grass Valley, he wanted to produce trees. He cleared brush, planted trees and then thinned and pruned them for production. Through the years, he's sold off some of the 1,000 original acres.

"A year ago, he showed me his tree plantation," Zinke said. I thought, 'he's been doing conservation all his life.'"

"It's improved the land, that's for sure," Lawton said. With two ponds on the land, fires can be fought and deer can find water. Brush clearing has helped the general beauty of the land, as well.

"It's better to look at," Lawton said. "I have personal pride in it."