Landowners will receive a valuable conservation education at the Third Annual Sustainable Land Management Workshop, which will be held at the historic 340-acre Samuell Farm located in Mesquite, Texas, on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

Registration starts at 8:30 a.m., and the workshop will be from 9:00 a.m. through 4:45 p.m. at the farm. Conservation materials will be supplied to all attendees upon registration for the workshop, along with two hours of continuing education units – private pesticide applicator.

Landowners will learn how to manage their land resources from several conservation professionals, who will discuss topics such as landowner liability, pond/water management and riparian restoration, invasive species management, prairie restoration and management, grazing management, and soil fertility and testing. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will also present a discussion about the web-based soil survey and NRCS programs available to landowners among others.

“This workshop will give local agricultural professionals the opportunity to provide landowners the necessary land management tools for their agricultural operation,” said Michael Brooks, NRCS district conservationist in Dallas and Tarrant counties. “In turn, landowners will have the chance to address concerns about resource issues within their land operation.”

The workshop concept emerged from an increase in the number of new landowners in the Dallas area and surrounding counties, and to ensure that resource materials were made available to the public from conservation professionals. Along with NRCS, many speakers will deliver conservation education for attendees, including Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Dallas County Farm Bureau, Bluebonnet Research Conservation and Development (RC&D), Dalworth Soil and Water Conservation District, North Texas Master Naturalist, Texas Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, BASF – The Chemical Company, and Friends of the Farm – a Texas non-profit corporation that manages the farm.