Soil & Wetlands Workshop

​Thursday, February 11, 2015, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Duval County Extension Office, 1010 North McDuff Ave., Jacksonville, FL
Cost $40 includes lunch, RSVP Paula Allen, NRCS, 904-266-0088; Paula.allen@fl.usda.gov 

The Duval Soil and Water Conservation District is connecting with the regional Natural Resources 
Conservation Service to bring Duval County residents, landowners, government employees, groups and 
interested organizations a Soils and Wetlands Workshop.  This timely workshop will help us all better 
understand our unique land and how we can better interact with it. 

You may not know, but the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations declared 2015 the 
International Year of Soils. Their goal is to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of 
soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions. Specifically, the mission is to showcase the 
profound importance of soil for human life including efforts to educate, support policies, and promote 
investment in sustainable soil management. Soil is deeply important we take its benefits for granted. 
Soil is essential for food security and food production. Soils host a quarter of our planet’s biodiversity 
and is helping us to combat and adapt to climate change by playing a key role in the carbon cycle. Also, 
soil store and filter water meaning that healthy land leads to healthy water. 

While the workshop won't focus on the many lifesaving functions that soil afford our communities, it will 
talk about the benefits of healthy soil and the ways we can work as a community to promote and
restore healthy soils. Whether you care about your backyard garden, nearby farm, air quality or water 
quality, this workshop will give you the basics of soil conditions in our county.

Topics to be discussed at the workshop include the nature and properties of soils, soil survey 
information and interpretations, seasonal high water table determinations, wetlands, hydric soils and 
vegetation, and more information about the pertinent rules, regulations and permits that involve soils.  
In a time when erosion is common, our streams are rising with sedimentation and local food production 
is more important than ever, join us to talk about our local soil and what we can all do to improve soil 
health in our community. Learn more on our Facebook page for the event.