Subcommittee
Private Land Stewardship
The Private Land Stewardship subcommittee focuses on protecting and restoring the natural systems that support Fairfield and Jefferson County’s long-term environmental resilience. This work centers on soil health, water quality, biodiversity, and habitat conservation across agricultural, rural, and urban landscapes, with an emphasis on voluntary, landowner-led stewardship.
Current efforts prioritize education, relationship-building, and alignment with existing conservation programs. Early implementation focuses on understanding local conditions, promoting proven practices, and supporting peer-to-peer learning that helps landowners adopt conservation strategies that benefit both working lands and natural ecosystems.
PLS Focus Areas
The Private Land Stewardship section of the plan outlines a phased approach to increasing conservation practices on private lands over time. The plan emphasizes awareness-building, technical support, and collaboration in the near term, followed by expanded adoption, recognition, and long-term tracking of practices that protect soil, water, and habitat while strengthening local stewardship culture.
After careful consideration, this subcommittee is directing their attention toward these key focus areas initially:
Urban Water Quality
This focus area addresses surface water runoff and pollution within Fairfield’s built environment. Early efforts focus on education, mapping, and partnerships to increase understanding of how land use and design affect water quality, followed by hands-on promotion of best management practices such as rain gardens, buffers, and bioswales that improve local waterways over time.
View this section of the plan (pdf)
Agricultural Conservation Practices
This focus area supports landowners and producers in adopting conservation practices that improve soil health, reduce erosion, and protect water quality. Early efforts emphasize promoting existing incentive programs, peer-to-peer learning, and practical education, with long-term goals of increasing conservation acres and normalizing stewardship as part of working landscapes.
View this section of the plan (pdf)
Biodiversity & Habitat Protection
This focus area centers on protecting and restoring native habitats and biodiversity on private lands. Work in this area emphasizes inventorying conserved lands, promoting existing conservation programs, supporting landowner education, and celebrating local stewardship through recognition and storytelling to build long-term engagement and visibility.
View this section of the plan (pdf)
Or, view the full Fairfield Resilient Action Planning Document (External Link) >
Private Land Stewardship Projects
These are a few of the projects in the works for 2026
Watershed Improvement Project
Initial focus on Walton Lake watershed.
Pocket Prairie Program
More info coming soon...
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