Jo Daviess County Soil & Water Conservation District

227 North Main St. Elizabeth, IL 61028 Phone 815-858-3418 Ext. 3

mailto: jdswcd@humus.com


Our Mission Conserving Natural Resources for you, our children and future generations.                                                                                      Established January 29, 1941    

   

contour stripcropping            conservation tillage               nursery
new       new     new  May, 2008

 

Historic Aerial Photography Special Project


Seamless mosaics of historic aerial imagery for Jo Daviess County have been
ortho
-rectified for use in Geographic Information Systems and are now available to the public.
    
This project was funded through a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation 2000 Ecosystem program.  The technical work was completed by the Illinois State Geological Survey.


There are two CD-ROMS.  One features a 1946-47 seamless aerial mosaic for county and the other has seamless 1927 imagery of the Mississippi River which covers all of the current lock and dam  pool 12.   The Mississippi River photos are from the US Army Corps of Engineers archives and are some of the earliest stereoscopic aerial images in the world.  These historic photos extend the length of the Upper Mississippi River and predate the installation of the lock and dam system.   The SWCD and ISGS are seeking partners to continue the preservation of the historic 1927 Mississippi River imagery beyond the area adjacent to Jo Daviess County.
 
Both CD's contain a full featured image viewer and GIS software.  The software is easy to use and includes a sample project with additional reference data for the County.
Both CD's contain road data and section and township information.    The Mississippi River CD also includes a seamless topographic image of the County, 1998 ortho-imagery in the area of the river, a rectified 1890 map of the Mississippi River for this area, the current  wing dam location file for pool 12, and seamless soil survey data for the County
along with the featured content of the seamless 1927 imagery of the Mississippi River adjacent to Jo Daviess County

Distribution cost is $20 per CD plus $3 shipping or copies may be picked up at our office.  For more information please call  815-858-3418 x 3 or email

 

Digital copies of the original un-rectified stereo aerial images for Jo Daviess County from 1946/1947 are available for free download at the Illinois Geospatial Data Clearinghouse            http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/nsdihome/webdocs/ilhap/

Thumbnail image of East Dubuque and the Ferry Landing- Harris Slough of the Mississippi River from 1927.      

Click on the image for a larger view    
edbq-1927

                                    ferrl-landing-thumb

                                            

Soil survey information for Jo Daviess County and most of the United States is available on the USDA web soil survey internet site.   If you have a reasonably fast internet connection the web soil survey is a great tool.  
wss linkAfter selecting the State and County you should see a modern aerial photo with the roads outlined.  Continue to zoom in for more detail and navigate to the area where the soil survey information is needed.     Use the mapping tools to outline your specific "area of interest", and then click on the soil map tab at the top of the page to obtain the soil survey lines.  


An on-screen report provides the acres in each soil mapping unit within your area of interest.  You can customize the reports or
download and print out reports and maps using the shopping cart feature.

Equipment for Sale and Rent and Strip Till Toolbar Demonstrations

Specialized equipment for rent through Jo Daviess SWCD includes a 10 foot United Farm Tools no-till  drill,  (reconditioned in 2006) an 8 foot Truax warm season grass drill, an ATV mounted warm season grass seeder, a large bale mulching machine and a tree planter.    Contact our office for rental information.   

In addition to the rental equipment the District has been encouraging manufacturers of strip till toolbars to demo these specialized tillage tools in the County.     These systems work a narrow strip of soil at the same spacing as the row crop planter while maintaining crop residue levels similar to no-till systems.  In many cases fertilizer is applied with the toolbar and guidance is provided with a GPS autosteer system.  Watch for additional information on strip till toolbar demonstrations and yield results.

                              toolbar1                                                                   toolbar2



 Jo Daviess County on the Internet

Check out these links for on-line information about Jo Daviess County

  Weather reports -Local forecasts - radar and satellite images

 Official website for Jo Daviess County Government

   University of Illinois Extension Service-  Jo Daviess County office

  Jo Daviess County Convention and Visitors Bureau Plan to visit soon

  The Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation Land Protection programs 

  Review some of the Rich History of the Area on the RootsWeb Jo Daviess County page

  Census Bureau information

 


Featured links:

  Great Weather

  Value Added Agricultural Production from the University of Illinois Extension Service

  Link to all the U of I Natural Resources and Agriculture sites

  Drop down for more links to Illinois Natural Resource web sites

 

   Forage Quality Project:

Extension educator Jim Morrison will be monitoring alfalfa fields in NW Illinois twice a week and will report the forage quality results on the Internet and local newspapers.

   Click here to monitor the Forage Quality web site.

  


Grape Growers

We have been receiving more questions on growing grapes during the past couple of years. Illinois now has a Grape and Wine Resources Council and a  University supported grape growers site on the web.

 


 The Jo Daviess County Soil Survey Report is now available ………. Stop at our office to pick up a copy. The Illinois NRCS Soilview CD ROM disk is also available.   Soilview offers a point and click interface to the soil maps, aerial photo background and soil descriptions. 

          


Streambank Stabilization and Watershed Features:

Jo Daviess County has hundreds of miles of perennial streams and many have eroding banks.

We are actively seeking financial support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture to help landowners solve streambank erosion problems.  Projects have been installed at over 100 different locations in the county during the past ten years. Applications for 75% state cost share for streambank stabilization projects may be made at our office at any time.     Approval is based on a field review and priorities are based on costs, potential benefits etc.  These projects require state and federal permits and the review and approval process normally takes several months.   

  Featured links:

   A tour of the Galena River

  Click here for information on local rivers and river stages.


Older Special projects:

  Sustainable crop rotations project 10/3/96
  Sustainable Agriculture Update 10/3/96


Links to other sites:


  Illinois Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts homepage- Representing the 98 SWCD's across Illinois

  Illinois Water Quality Network website-  Links for technical resources and local ordinances

  Illinois NRCS home page Jo Daviess County is the first county in the nation to have the soil survey of the future.       Continuing information on the soil survey of the   future on CD ROM is at this link.

  Apple Canyon Lake Conservation Committee website.  Includes information about the ongoing dredging project and topsoil sales program.  Offers illustrations of bathymetric maps completed with assistance from Jo Daviess County SWCD.

   Champaign County SWCD Includes links to the Save Our Illinois Soils (SOILS) project sites. One of the demonstration plots is nearby in Stephenson County.

  The National Association of Conservation Districts Homepage Conservation Ideas from across the Country

  Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service Various Illinois farm facts including crop reports and links to other statistics sites

  Illinois Department of Natural Resources homepage

  Illinois General Assembly- proposed legislation and links to existing State Statutes

  Chicago Board of Trade -Current commodity prices and links to many interesting sites

  Illinois Geospatial Data Clearing House- Ortho photography and topo maps for all of Illinois-on line

  Weather reports -Local forecasts - radar and satellite images Place a bookmark at this weather page. It's a great resource for local weather links.


That's all folks - you all come back and check this page again.