By Jean Meiners
The Root River Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is proud to announce that Gary and Sandy Klinski have been awarded the 2024 Minnesota Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts Outstanding Conservationist. The MASWCD recognizes individuals for outstanding accomplishments with implementing conservation practices and improving Minnesota’s natural resources.
The Klinskis have been working on conservation projects for many years in cooperation with the Root River SWCD. The projects that were implemented over the years are still the same as projects being built on the ground today. In 1971 there were two waterways constructed totaling 770 linear feet. These are still maintained today along with the installation of other waterways as needed to collect sediment and nutrients in a practical manner. There are a total of 16 push-up ponds on the property that help to reduce soil loss and prevent water pollution.
The majority of the farm and woodland lies on upland areas on top of the ridge that overlook the valley, the slopes of this Karst area are extremely vulnerable with slopes going down the hill exceeding 40-50%. All of the crop land areas are surrounded by pasture followed by woodland below that. The crop land is planted on the contour with many acres dedicated to contour strips which aid in reducing sheet and rill erosion. Gary has worked with the Root River SWCD to ensure that the strips are laid out correctly to meet both equipment needs and erosion abatement needs. Minimum tillage is an integral part of the cropping system. The crop rotation is a common one throughout the county as it includes corn for one or two years with one year of soybeans and three to four years of hay/alfalfa. Gary does scout his cropland throughout the summer to stay on top of any infestation that may occur.
With the help of the Root River SWCD a feedlot improvement was done in 2005 to treat the release of liquids and solids. This consisted of converting part of the pasture to a grass buffer area to treat effluent, and a 240 foot heavy use cattle lane with 440 feet of fencing. There are 27 cow/calf beef pairs that are rotationally grazed on some of the steep, more vulnerable areas of the farm. Water is supplied by many of the 16 push-up ponds that have been placed strategically on the landscape to provide not only a source of water for the cattle but also serve to reduce gully erosion. The cattle are pastured much of the year waiting until late fall before feeding hay as the pasture is consumed. The cattle are over wintered on the feedlot and consistent scraping of the feedlot is done to retain most of the solids to allow them to be removed for land spreading for better manure management.
Two separate Brush Management Plans were conducted on the property, one for 13 acres and the other for 20 acres. The plans were implemented to help control invasive honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, and buckthorn in two areas of the pasture by spot spraying and brush mowing. Gary continues to manage the pasture for invasive species by continuing to brush mow and spot spray.
To protect vulnerable riparian areas the Klinski’s placed former crop land into CRP Pollinator and SAFE program. This helps to protect the slopes and reduce soil and water erosion from reaching Crooked Creek. By setting acres aside for CRP they are helping to support the many types of wildlife, including quail and pheasant, and beneficial insects.
Between 1971 and 1973 Gary worked with the Wild Turkey Federation to help establish wild turkey in Houston County. The birds came from Missouri and were place on his property; he fed them and helped get them established. Thanks to those efforts Caledonia is the Wild Turkey Capitol of Minnesota. Every spring for the past 30 plus years the Klinski’s have purchased White Oak and Walnut trees from the Root River SWCD tree sale, this provides for very diverse wildlife food sources and protective cover.
The Klinski’s worked with the Root River SWCD and the Crooked Creek Watershed District to install a Stormwater Reduction/Retention Structure (SRRS) in 2021 and 2022. The structure was designed to direct runoff from the upstream watershed to a temporary pool and convey it downstream through a pipe in a non-erosive manner to slow the flow rate and thereby reducing flooding downstream. The drainage area for the dam is 1010 acres, has 48,175 cubic yards of earth fill and is 20 feet high, 180 linear feet of 48 inch class V gasketed concrete pipe, and an earth auxiliary spillway outlet for storm events that occur that are greater than the design storm event for the pipe (50 year-24 hour storm event). Approximately 2,000 linear feet of newly constructed waterway channel was constructed from the pipe outlet to the downstream property edge. For the first year an existing waterway channel was used to allow the newly constructed waterway channel to become vegetated, a crossover with rock rip rap was constructed the second year of construction and the old waterway channel was abandoned. A concrete low water crossing was installed at the end of the waterway channel for property access.
Gary and Sandy have a daughter, Emily who is a Quality Control Manager for the Southeast Region of Minnesota for Mayo Clinic. Emily is married to Nick Bauer and they have two children, Grady and Weston. They also have a son Dustin who worked on the farm but is now a foreman for Mathy Construction.
For his efforts with the Wild Turkey Federation Gary was awarded the Sportsman of the Year Award. Gary has also been involved with the Houston County DHIA, Land O’Lakes, and Tri-State Breeders. For several years Gary helped maintain the snowmobile trail from Caledonia to Freeburg as a member of the Caledonia Sno-Gophers. Since May 2019 Gary has been a volunteer rain monitor for Root River SWCD and Minnesota State Climatology.
Sandy grew up on a farm and was active in 4-H and showed cattle. She worked at Gundersen Health for 30 years as a medical transcriptionist and is now retired.
Leave a Reply