Deer Creek Conservation District Hosts Conservation Commission

September 5, 2008

Chesapeake Energy Presents Sign Acknowledging 2008 Outstanding Conservation District

State Rep. James Covey receives Conservation Commission Commendation

From left are Deer Creek CD Director Carol Gaunt; Chesapeake Energy Representative John Cox; Deer Creek CD directors John Flaming, Bertha Miller and Aveta Taylor and Associate Director Sue Harper-Brown; and OACD Executive Director Clay Pope.

The Deer Creek Conservation District hosted the Oklahoma Conservation Commission for its regular monthly meeting for September 2008 on Thursday, Sept. 4. Deer Creek CD was named as Outstanding Conservation District for 2008 during Conservation Day at the Capitol last March. The annual award is sponsored by Chesapeake Energy and the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts. In winning the award, the district was recognized for its active and varied programs to further natural resource conservation. Among those programs are no-till workshops, equipment rental, programs to monitor water quality and to help volunteers identify pollutants and analyze the health of local streams, among others. At Thursday’s meeting John Cox represented Chesapeake Energy in presenting a metal, outdoor sign commemorating the district’s honor.

The Deer Creek Conservation District, which covers portions of Custer, Washita and Blaine counties, is located in Weatherford. In recent years OCC has made an annual practice of holding a monthly meeting at the offices of the award-winning district to recognize officers and staff for their efforts.

**From left are OCC Executive Director Mike Thralls, Rep. James Covey and OCC Chairman Dan Lowrance.**

State Rep. James Covey attended the meeting and the Conservation Commission presented him with a Conservation Commission Commendation for “… unfailing support and leadership in the Oklahoma Legislature for conservation districts and initiatives, no-till agriculture, upstream flood control programs
and agricultural industry and rural development in the State of Oklahoma.” Rep. Covey, a farmer and rancher who lives in Custer City, has represented District 57 for 12 years and by state term limits is ineligible to be elected again.

Following the Commission meeting, Deer Creek CD board and staff, with assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, provide the visitors with a tour of Cobb Creek Dam No. 2. The upstream flood control dam, built in 1958, has been undergoing reconstruction as part of a nationwide USDA dam rehabilitation program. Originally construction was expected to be completed in 2007, but heavy rainstorms in May, June and July of that year kept setting back completion. Then, in August 2007, after the concrete spillway pipe had been set in place, the remnant of Hurricane Erin battered western Oklahoma. At Cobb Creek No. 2, pieces of spillway pipe were scattered and tons of soil washed away. Now, in September 2008, the dam is finally approaching completion.