Let the Soil and/or Water Debates Begin

Our endorsements for Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor have generated quite a buzz in the soil and water community.   Including this email from one of the candidates in Ramsey County:

Read your endorsements for conservation district supervisor candidates and reasons for such on your blog.  I'm David Bogue, Candidate for district 2 and I wanted to clarify a couple of things for you. 

My comment that water quality is our most urgent resource issue requires a bit more clarification.  Water versus soil needn't be a worry for you.  The things we do for water quality involve soil resources in a good way.  If we merely focus on soil resources, however, we can exclude water quality.  I earned far too many credits in soil science to turn my back on soil.  I love the stuff.  God bless soil!  But one of the biggest parts of water quality is keeping soil where it belongs!

You mentioned that I'm anti roof and anti parking lot.  That's not entirely true.  What I'm stating is that as we increase impervious surfaces, we increase runoff.  By utilizing different building techniques, design features, and when we install landscape features to manage storm water, we decrease the impact of impervious surfaces.  Hey, free water is a good thing and storm water can be collected and used again on site. 

Please let me know if I can answer any questions for you regarding resource issues.

All the best,

David Bogue

Candidate for Ramsey Conservation District Supervisor for District 2

Thanks for that email David.  It does clarify things and tends to placate some of our more rabidly pro-soil concerns.  Plus any time God is invoked in a political campaign, we like it.   This information will be submitted to our official endorsement provider, Sisyphus, to see if he wishes to alter his decision in District 2.  

Reminder to any other candidates in these races, Fraters Libertas is your forum for the substantive debate on all soil and water issues.  Send me your opinion pieces and they shall be printed, in full and unedited.  

UPDATE:  Bill writes in to let us know he was researching the candidacy of Richard Klatte for Hennepin County District 3 Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor, and made this discovery:

If you go to his Web site, he apparently isn't aware of what he actually signed up for.