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Sauk R. ~V beats the odds <br />Hard work and persistence <br />recently paid off for the Sauk <br />River Watershed District and, <br />ultimately, all watershed districts <br />throughout the state. <br />As the first «•atershed district to <br />attempt to secure State Revoly- <br />ing Fund (SRF) loan money, <br />Sauk River became the unwitting <br />guinea pig for a new program <br />when the Pollution Control <br />Agency (PCA) approved its <br />application for X403,000 in SRF <br />loan money, coupled with $79,500 <br />in Clean Water Partnership grant <br />money, in Febnrary 1995. <br />The watershed district planned to <br />use the loan and grant money to. <br />Envirothon con't <br />morning to an orientation session <br />preparing them for the <br />afternoon's five learning stations. <br />After lunch, students faced <br />questions on soils, forestry,. <br />aquatics, pesticides and wildlife. <br />Alarms went off earl} Thursday <br />morning--students (many of <br />whom brought pillows) boarded <br />buses at 6 a.m. for athree-hour <br />ride to the historic civil war <br />battlefield of Gettysburg. After a <br />few hours to wander around the <br />town, students had lunch and a <br />tour of the battlefield hosted by <br />official Gettysburg guides. Many <br />buildings in Gettysburg still bear <br />bullet holes, and the fields where <br />soldiers fought remain largely <br />untouched, except for the <br />monuments erected to honor the <br />dead. <br />Envirothon work began again <br />Friday morning. Students <br />listened_to a series of lectures on <br />various aspects of pest control, <br />then were sequestered with only <br />their teammates, an adult <br />"buddy," and some resource <br />materials on pest management. <br />They spent the next 11 hours <br />preparing for the oral presenta- <br />tion portion of the Em~irothon, <br />which required that they analyze <br />a scenario and develop an <br />integrated pest management <br />(IPM).plan to deal with specific <br />pest problems. <br />On Saturday morning, all teams <br />gave 20-minute presentations on <br />their IPM plans to a panel of <br />judges, who followed up with. 10 <br />minutes of questions. The top five <br />teams repeated their presentations <br />Saturday afternoon. A Saturday <br />night awards banquet wrapped up <br />the event. <br />Host state Pennsylvania won first <br />place with a score of 617.84; <br />Maryland placed second (609.66); <br />Connecticut placed third (586.50); <br />New Hampshire placed fourth <br />082.16); and Florida placed fifth <br />(557.84). <br />Although Minnesota placed a <br />disappointing 30th, the students <br />enthusiastically endorsed the <br />event. "It was a great chance to <br />meet kids from other states and <br />yet to be friends," said Ryan <br />Herzog. Scott Helfman agreed . <br />that "The whole thing is very <br />well-organized. They keep you <br />busy and show you the sights," he <br />said. <br />"All of the feedback I've gotten <br />has been very positive," said <br />teacher Tom Leustek. "It met or <br />exceeded any expectations they <br />had coming in." <br />fund. impruvements to the Big <br />Birch Lake area in Todd and <br />Stearns County. The lion's <br />share of the loan money would <br />go to improve or replace septic <br />systems. The grant money, _ <br />combined with some additional <br />funds from the Board of Water <br />and Soil Resources (BWSR), <br />would be used to cost-share 75 <br />percent of the cost of the <br />installation of best management <br />practices or major improve- <br />menu, such as feedlots. Land- <br />owners would be able to finance <br />the remaining 2~ percent <br />through an SRFiow-interest <br />loan. <br />Problems began when the <br />district tried to access the loan <br />money. Then the district found <br />out that in order to get the loan <br />money, it needed a letter from. a <br />bond counsel--an attorney <br />specializing in bonding law-- <br />indicating that the watershed <br />district was a good credit risk. <br />"I thought that because we had <br />some money in the bank and a <br />good credit rating, that would <br />be no problem," said Bob <br />Mostad, administrator of the <br />Sauk River Watershed District. <br />`.Wrongi„ <br />Because the watershed district <br />(like all other watershed <br />districts in the state) did not <br />have the authority to raise <br />money through a Qeneral <br />obligation tax, no bond counsel <br />would give them a favorable <br />letter. And with no letter, no <br />money. <br />However, Mostad did talk to an <br />attorney at Dorsey & Whitney <br />law firm who told him that he <br />had hvo options: he could get <br />the county to co-sign for the <br />loan money, or he could try to <br />Sauk River con't page ~ <br /> <br />