Special to The Hays Daily News

The Smoky Hills Resource Conservation and Development Area assisted the city of Victoria with a Kansas Department of Health and Environment grant application earlier this year.

With assistance from the RC&D, Victoria received a KDHE waste tire derived products grant for the Honey Braun Park Improvement project. The total project budget for the replacement of park mulch was $37,135. The grant provided $18,567, and the balance was provided by Victoria.

Smoky Hills RC&D is working with the Girl Scouts of the Kansas Heartland on an effort called Conservation Scene Investigation for first- through third-grade girls. A camp, scheduled for Oct. 10, will have the girls participating in activities that show them how to investigate the health of the watershed where they live. A follow-up camp will be in the spring, and in between the Girl Scout will practice their investigative skills. Girl Scouts from across the state are invited to participate. In this effort, the RC&D is assisting the Girl Scouts by setting up the program, findings speakers and developing the between-camp curriculum.

RC&D recently has concluded a project called Kansas Warm Homes. Rush, Lane and Ness county RC&D members distributed a total of 37 warm home kits to low-income, the disabled and fixed-income residents in their counties. The kits provide simple tools and materials to cover windows and doors with plastic sheeting, weather stripping for doors, rope caulking and switch plate insulators that helped to stop drafts and improve the comfort level in older homes. The custom designed kit also included compact fluorescent bulbs and a low-flow shower head.