PULASKI COUNTY — As Illinois lawmakers enter the final weeks of budget negotiations before the May 31 deadline, Southern Illinois conservation leader Dale Shumaker is urging state leaders to reach a bipartisan solution that fully supports Illinois’ Soil and Water Conservation Districts before more local conservation capacity is lost.
Shumaker, President of the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD) and a longtime District Director for the Pulaski Alexander County Soil and Water Conservation District, said growing environmental and land use pressures across Illinois are highlighting why long-term conservation funding challenges can no longer remain unaddressed.
“We are seeing more flooding, more erosion concerns, more pressure on farmland, and more questions about how land is being used throughout Illinois,” Shumaker said. “At the same time, local conservation offices have spent years trying to respond to those challenges while operating with limited and inconsistent funding.”
Illinois’ 97 Soil and Water Conservation Districts have faced longstanding operational funding challenges that conservation leaders say have made it increasingly difficult to maintain staffing levels and provide consistent technical assistance to farmers and landowners over time.
Shumaker said the funding situation is particularly concerning for rural Southern Illinois communities that depend heavily on agriculture and natural resource protection.
“In Southern Illinois, we understand better than anyone that conservation is not some abstract issue,” Shumaker said. “It directly impacts our farms, erosion concerns, our roads, our local economy, and the future of our communities.”
AISWCD is supporting Senate Bill 4044, sponsored by Peoria Democratic Sen. David Koehler, which would create a dedicated conservation funding stream through a one-time – and one-time only — farmland conversion fee paid by developers permanently removing agricultural land from production.
AISWCD emphasized the proposed fee would only be paid once at the time agricultural land is converted for development and would not create recurring costs for farmers or landowners.
The proposal has already received bipartisan support in the Illinois Senate Appropriations Committee, including praise from Republican Suburban Sen. Don DeWitte for its focus on protecting farmland and creating long-term stability for conservation districts.
Shumaker said lawmakers still have time to act before the budget deadline.
“We are not asking lawmakers to stop economic growth or development,” Shumaker said. “We are simply asking Illinois to recognize that stewardship must grow alongside development. Once productive farmland is lost, it is gone forever.”
He also warned that without stable support, Illinois risks weakening the local conservation delivery system responsible for helping farmers implement erosion control, soil health, and flood mitigation practices.
“Future generations are depending on us to get this right,” Shumaker said. “Illinois has some of the best farmland in the world, and protecting it should remain a bipartisan priority.”
For more information, visit https://aiswcd.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com