Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Funding for local soil and water conservation districts wasn’t cut any more from the coming fiscal year state budget, but it wasn’t increased either.

Eliot Clay is head of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and says those offices used to have about double the funding they do now, and tells the WTAX Morning Newswatch with 97 such districts in the state, it’s getting to be not enough money per office to have at least one full-time person.

“Given where we are today with the economy and everything, that’s not great,” said Clay.  “Ideally, they’re supposed to have two (full-time employees). That is near impossible.”

Clay says many around the state were on troubled financial ground to begin with, and may have to make some difficult decisions, instead of making sure the 75 percent of land in the state that’s used for agriculture is used as environmentally friendly as possible.

He says changing federal regulations from various departments may make things even more problematic.

“We are also dealing with changes that are happening at the federal level — USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service,” said Clay.  “These are people we have dealt with for years that are kind of co-housed in many of these offices.  Given the federal budget that’s been proposed that’s currently in the Senate, if that goes through as written, we are looking at a very real scenario where we are losing even more resources for farmers in the short term.”

Clay describes local soil and water conservation districts as the “boots on the ground” when it comes to land protection and conservation, and environmental stewardship.