The Polk County Soil & Water Conservation District is a government entity dedicated to
the protection, preservation, and enhancement of Polk County’s natural resources.

Polk County Mutual Soil Conservation Association, Inc. was formed on June 9, 1939 to
promote soil health and water quality in Polk County. Then in 1961, due to demand for more
involved resource management programs, the district supervisors approached the USDA and
the State of North Carolina to establish the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District and in
1992, in effort to improve efficiency, the district became a full department of Polk County
Government.

In the past five years the Polk Soil and Water Conservation District has managed several
miles of Stream Bank Restoration on the Pacolet River and acquired and managed millions of
dollars of federal and state project funds including; livestock exclusion and watering facilities,
livestock stream crossings and plantings as part of these projects. Through work involving
the NC Agricultural Cost Share Program and Federal NRCS conservation programs the Polk
Soil and Water Conservation District has converted highly erodible crop land to permanent
grasslands and installed hundreds of conservation practices. Recently the Polk Soil and
Water Conservation District acquired the abandoned Mill Spring School as a donation. The
school will be used as the Mill Spring Agricultural Development Center along with community
activities.

A major program area for the soil and water conservation district is farmland
preservation. Currently the district has 1582 acres enrolled in the Enhanced Voluntary
Agriculture District and 5606 acres enrolled in the Voluntary Agriculture District. In addition
the district holds permanent conservation easements on several hundred acres.