Newton County Soil and Water Conservation District

06/11/2026

Cohort 6 of the Student Conservation Interns completed their first day on Monday, June 8th! We are excited to welcome Nick Albrecht, Duke Mark, and Patrick St. Dennis III (left to right)! They are already working with their mentors at The Nature Conservancy-Kankakee Sands, the Department of Natural Resources - Willow Slough FWA and LaSalle FWS, and the Newton County Soil & Water Conservation District on habitat restoration, native plantings, water monitoring, and much more!

06/08/2026

We are excited to announce that our Educator, Laura Floyd, officially completed the Indiana Watershed Leadership Academy through Purdue University! She, along with 3 other staff members from the North-Northwest Region, completed this intensive 5-month training to earn their Professional Certificate in Watershed Management. 🎉

Pictured left to right -
Heather Nally (Benton County Soil & Water Conservation District)
Ashley Heims (Starke County Soil & Water Conservation District)
Laura Floyd (Newton County Soil & Water Conservation District)
Courtney McFall (Indiana State Department of Agriculture)

06/06/2026

This garden was built for rain 🌧 hopefully that means well be getting some this weekend! 🤞 (not too much though because they're still babies!) These little plants will grow in over the next few years establishing DEEP roots to help stabilize the park and filter runoff before getting to the lake and river. They will also be a home for important pollinators! 🐝🦋

Our Rain Garden Workshop was such a fun day thanks to the hard work of instructor, Nikky Witkowski, the planning team at Purdue Extension-Newton County, SWCD, and Indiana State Department of Agriculture & most importantly all of the participants!! All who attended learned about rainscaping and dug right in pla ting around 800 plants Thursday!! What a community effort!

Brook Town Council has been incredible welcoming this fun project and working so hard to make it happen. Thank you to Friends of the Sands and The Nature Conservancy in Indiana for growing these powerful plants and to NIPSCO making this workshop and final phase possible!

The Harvest Hangout nailed lunch as always!

Stay tuned to see updates as this rain garden and bioswale grow!

06/05/2026

The 2025-26 cohort of Student Conservation Interns had their final day last week! Shelby Neeley, Forest Nyberg, and Jackson Strain completed a full year as interns and experienced a huge diversity of work in conservation. Working with the Department of Natural Resources at Willow Slough FWA and LaSalle FWA, The Nature Conservancy - Kankakee Sands, and the Newton County Soil & Water Conservation District, the interns were able to do habitat restoration, work with wildlife, help at community education and outreach events, and much more! We are so proud of these young conservationists and all they are going to accomplish!
We are very grateful to the Jasper Newton Foundation, North Newton Jr/Sr High School and South Newton Schools for continuing to support this great program!

06/04/2026

It's a beautiful day to plant a garden! 🏵🌿🐝🦋We are learning so much today at our Rain Garden Workshop in Brook! Thank you Purdue Extension-Newton County for teaching us!

Thank you NIPSCO and all of our partners Friends of the Sands, of Brook, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy in Indiana, river basin conservancy district, Yoder-Hall Drainage, Landscaping for supplying the funds, materials, and know how to make this awesome project and community workshop a possibility!

06/03/2026

Earth Night is almost here! We are so excited to be at the Newton County Punkin' Vine Fair again this year! Join us for an evening of learning about conservation, free entertainment, games, and prizes.

We will be in the sheep arena on Wednesday, July 15, from 4-7pm. See you at Earth Night!🌎🍧🎡

05/29/2026

Hi, I’m Shelby Neeley, a Newton County Student Conservation Intern stationed at The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands. Two weeks ago, I helped plant a native pollinator garden at the Lake Village Community Center. Volunteers from the community helped plant Prairie Dropseed, Broom sedge, Butterfly w**d, Coreopsis, Prairie onion, Showy goldenrod, New England Aster, Echinecia, Prairie Smoke, and Mini Black Eyed Susan. The garden was funded partially by the Lower Kankakee Watershed Initiative cost share dollars. This garden will be beneficial for insects and pollinators to allow them to have both habitat and food. Below is a picture I took of the garden after we planted! Thank you to the Town of Lake Village and all the volunteers that came out to get this garden established!

Shelby Neeley, Student Conservation Intern
Photo Credits: Shelby Neeley

05/27/2026

Tomorrow is the final day to RSVP for the Benton County Soil & Water Conservation District field day! It will be a great learning opportunity!

Check out this Facebook Post designed by Heather Nally.

05/23/2026

Come see us at Beaverfest today!! The Friends of the Sands donated 3 flats of native plants you can win!! Lots of great giveaways, info, and music!

05/20/2026

Don't forget about this great opportunity! The deadline to rsvp is approaching quickly and you won't want to miss it.

We are excited to announce that we are hosting a rain garden workshop! This is a great opportunity to learn about incorporating native plants into your landscape and creating your own rain garden at home. Lunch and all the needed materials will be included in the registration cost!

Thank you so much to our partners and sponsors who have made this program possible! Purdue Extension-Newton County, NIPSCO, Town of Brook, IN, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Sands, Iroquois River Conservancy District, and Clean Water Indiana!! 🌧️🌼

To register, scan the QR code, visit www.newtoncountyinswcd.com, call 219-285-2217, or email [email protected]. RSVP'S are due by May 29, 2026.