LANDOWNER INTERVIEWS
Leaving a Legacy through Conservation in the Little Cottonwood Watershed

Gary Rathman | Roland Richert | Gerald and Lorrel Riederer | Marvin and Esther Windschitl

Marvin and Esther Windschitl
Regular flooding and poor yields were enough to make Marvin and Esther Windschitl look for an alternative to cropping some of their farm land.

“The area is close to the Little Cottonwood River. When the river would rise, about 20 acres would flood out. We would only get a crop off of it about once every five years. The land is even too low to tile.”

For Marvin, enrolling some of his land in CREP made good sense. The area that occasionally produced corn and soybeans has now been planted to about 60 acres of native prairie grasses that will help reduce erosion and agricultural runoff.

The decision to enter CREP will not only help the water quality of the Little Cottonwood River, it will also improve Marvin’s bottom line. “The CREP payments are better than what I could get from farming the field,” said Marvin. The trend toward larger and larger equipment also influenced Marvin’s decision. “It’s an odd shaped field, so it’s hard to get into it with larger equipment.”

One major concern some landowners have when enrolling land in a conservation program is trespassing and unauthorized hunting. That hasn’t been a problem for Marvin. “The land is posted. That keeps people off.”

Marvin and Esther also recognize how important native prairie land can be for wildlife. “The land has only been planted (to grass) for a year. But we do see pheasants and deer on the CREP land. Lots of wildflowers too.” Once the grasses become established, Marvin and Esther will have a beautiful stand of native prairie and a legacy that will extend long beyond the time they retire from farming.