Biking the By-ways 

by Laurie Zeller, CDB Bureau Chief

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take a few hours off, so I hopped on my bike and rode up McClellan Creek Road in Jefferson County. One would get the impression, if you listen to the news, that all people are selfish, the environment in the entire country is in peril, and generally that life as we know it will never be the same. While some of that may be true, as I reflected on conversations over the last few weeks with conservation district personnel and supervisors I get an entirely different picture. I don’t see selfishness – I see dedication.

I see your leadership stepping up to make your organization better. I see Pat Anderson leading the district operations committee to clarify the resolution process. I see Gayla Wortman leading the by-laws committee to make changes you asked for that will make your organization truly a conservation district-led organization. I see Elisha Dempsey with the help of Chris Evans and Becky Clements leading the education committee to provide leadership training and other education requested by you at last year’s area meetings. I see Jim Simpson and others working to keep your organization growing and working on hiring a new executive director. I see CD supervisors dealing with difficult 310s, forging new territory for the betterment of their region, and learning new technology to keep conservation district plans moving forward. I see administrators with their wicked sense of humor being on hold for hours until they get a technology problem solved, dealing with all manner of issues coming up, and remaining dedicated to their job and each other. I see growth, I see optimism.

While I rode and breathed in the fresh air, I saw the land coming to life – pastures greening up, calves on the ground, fields being readied for planting, forests managed, bridges over creeks with minimum impacts. I see the results of your hard work. And, I knew that I am proud to work for you.

National news

NACD is working to secure benefits for conservation districts. NACD Requests Additional Support for Conservation Districts in Next Stimulus

RCAC Meeting 

The next RCAC meeting is scheduled for May 20, 2020. Originally, the meeting was scheduled for onsite in Helena, but now it will be held either by conference call or a Zoom meeting. Linda Brander will send out more details soon.  

Q & A:

QUESTION: Is there any guidance for local governments on how to compensate their employees during the shut down if they can’t work their full hours – whether they can use leave or whether they just keep track of their hours that they don’t work, or some other combination?   

ANSWER: There’s links off of MACo to the Department of Labor (DOL) that talks about Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It would depend on the circumstances of why the employee couldn't work their full hours (e.g. not able to tele-work, ill with virus, caring for others, etc.). 

Karl's Covid-Station

by Karl Christians, CD Specialist

In early March the Covid-19 concern came to light. I thought, just a nasty flu bug… no big deal, it’s overblown. As a few days went by, it became obvious that this virus could have a major impact on those whose health is compromised. My 89 year old mother with crappy lungs is living with me, so I became a little more concerned. On March 16, I decided to take social distancing serious, and began working from home. I have my own office, while my wife, who also works from home, has her office next door. My first thought was.. ohh man, gonna work next to Raelynn, who likes to talk… a lot... and is kinda loud… how is this gonna pan out!? Well, in a nutshell, it’s working out well! 

So, now that I’ve been doing this for seven weeks, I actually like it. I have not had any down time to say the least while districts have been able to contact me any time of the day or night, which also works well for them. Just this morning I got a call from a supervisor at 6:30 to discuss a topic. Having recently been promoted to own a smartphone, and retire my flip phone, my earbuds have proven to be a great asset to say the least! Working remotely has also helped save gas from no travel to work, money from not eating out for lunch, laundry, showers, soap, shampoo, hair cuts...  you know, that regular stuff!  We’ll get thru this virus spell, and we need to do our part to support local businesses as well. Please continue to social distance a bit to keep us all safe! You just don’t know who or where you could contact it!  Stay Safe!

Permissive Mill Levy

Has your district implemented the permissive Levy? Or is it considering it? Or does it even know what it is? The permissive Levy is an avenue for the district to generate mill levy revenue to help pay for group benefits. Group benefits means group hospitalization, health, medical, surgical, life, and other similar and related group benefits provided to officers and employees of political subdivisions, including flexible spending account benefits and payments in lieu of group benefits. 

If you are not sure what the permissive levy is about go to our website (http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/cardd/conservation-districts/documents-trainings) and view the webinar.  There are two you can look at. Permissive Mill Levy & Implementing the Permissive Levy. They go over the steps to consider and also how to implement the Levy.   

Reminder, if your district has implemented the Permissive Levy in the past and your board wants to continue, it’s time to start thinking about re-implementing the permissive for this year. The Board must suggest the level of group benefits or any potential increase, hold a public hearing, then adopt the proposed amount after considering any public comment.  

The current form to use can be found at the Department of Administration website. Permissive Mill Levy

If you have any questions, feel free to call me anytime.

Working at home

by Linda Brander, CD Specialist

Working at home has several benefits for me.  I save about 1.5 hours in commuting time which as we head into summer is great. At one point, I would have said it saves on my budget because I am not paying $45+ a week for fuel, but with gas prices so low, this is now a moot point. I am rarely disrupted by phone calls; now the main disruption is a cat walking across the keyboard. I usually do not apply make-up, but at the very least I do suit up in proper attire-- attire that I would wear into the office. In the past I would have apologized when my dog(s) barked during a phone call, but now it seems that if is acceptable etiquette. If you have listened to the radio or TV, you will hear dogs barking in the background and kids crawling all over certain celebrities. So, I say cool, if the rich and famous do it, then it is okay for me.

The biggest disadvantage for me is the lack of seeing and chatting with my colleagues daily. I am an extrovert with a capital E. Now my main chats are with Arlo (dog), Bif (dog) or the cats and other outside critters. And yes, I miss talking with the CD administrators. Those check-ins are always fun and engaging. 

Pandemic coping mechanisms for me include a daily walk, 15-minute meditation with the barn cat, Piper Peabody, and doing one kind thing every day. 

Springtime in Quarantine

by Jason Garber, Stream Permitting Coordinator

As I write this post the presence of spring is unmistakable, the trees are ready for bud burst and the birds are busy collecting nesting materials. The last five weeks have been very interesting to say the least. My wife and I are sharing our home office and we generally get along well as office mates. We both feel very fortunate to have been able to stay employed and work remotely during the COVID-19 quarantine. We live in central Helena on a decent sized lot so we are able to get outside and work on projects. We recently bought a small greenhouse kit and built it next to our garden plot. It’s been fun to grow our plant starts in there, and hang out in 90 degrees of humidity and earthy smell. We also just added two laying hens to our backyard farm, something we’ve been wanting to do for years. Although I really enjoy being at home, there are days when I really miss my office and casual banter with my coworkers. Immediately before the quarantine I was traveling a lot for work, to Glasgow for a 310 workshop at the end of February, and to Kalispell for the Floodplain Conference right before the shutdown. That feels like ages ago.     

I cannot wait for the day when I can get back on the road and deliver 310 workshops and visit Districts. From the 310 front, things have been going on more or less as usual.  Many districts canceled their April meetings, but many were able to push on with remote platforms like Zoom and conference telephone lines. I’ve remotely attended several meetings in the last two weeks and the remote format seems to be working well. As always let me know if you have questions regarding any aspect of 310 permitting. Remember that if you have not submitted your 310 survey numbers for 2019 please do so soon. I sent out a reminder a couple of weeks ago and have gotten many survey submissions since then, but I am still waiting on a few.   

Stay healthy and enjoy Spring!

Miles City Meanderings

by Duane Claypool, Water Reservations Specialist

The Miles City CDB office continues to provide services to CDs & producers despite these “interesting” times. The good news is that we are all learning (I know I am) about the working remote technology out there i.e. Zoom, MSTeams, Webex to name a few.

The schedule also includes making the daily trek to the office to check & respond to landline messages, mail, etc…  For work & life in general I think this allows us, because being somewhat temporarily in limbo, to really appreciate the freedom we have in Montana. But, I am starting to meander so better sign off.

Am I living in a Quarantine VR?

by Mary Hendrix, CD Specialist

Much of my day-to-day with CD Bureau is on the computer and before the home office, I worked and researched projects virtually in the confines of my lovely gray-walled cubicle. Good for concentration and creativity! Now, there's no lack of external stimulation working from my dining room table, I'm surrounded by the sights and sounds of my street. At first, I thought it would be distracting, but my work remains the same, but applied with even more intention. It’s different and I can appreciate that. But I sure do miss my office chair!

During the quarantine, I celebrated my one-year anniversary working for DNRC. Like many of you, I feel blessed to still be employed and working remotely during this time. I am fortunate to have served Conservation Districts during the past year and look forward to more years to come.   

I share my home with my daughter Jillian and our two cats, Anya and Tama. Jill is in the "Class of 2020" from Carroll College and finishing up remote learning this week. May 9^th was to be the day when mortar-boards flew through the air, but like many college and high school seniors, this is not taking place this year. Class of Quarantine 2020, I bet they will be different from others before and after them. How can they not be?

So… virtual reality... an artificial environment created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. Maybe, just maybe.