The Sublette County Conservation District has several tools available for landowners and land managers to check out for use on natural resource projects within the county. The process is simple. There is a use agreement, waiver form and proof of insurance that need to be signed and provided for the use of any equipment the SCCD has to offer.

Now that the paperwork details are out of the way, I will highlight the tools we have.

The first tool that is relatively new to the SCCD is a rangeland drill. This drill can be used on ground that hasn’t been farmed or ground that has. It has a 10-foot planting width, with 12-inch row spacings (www.rangelanddrills.com). The drill has three seed boxes designed to efficiently meter legumes, grass and fluffy seeds without trouble.

The drill doesn’t require any hydraulics so compatibility with different tractors and dozers isn’t a problem. If you are wanting to utilize this piece of equipment, get in touch with the SCCD and we can help with designing a seed mix for your property that meets the intended goals for your land.

The newest addition to the toolbox is a rangeland aerator. The SCCD received a grant to purchase a 12-foot-wide tandem drum RanchWorx aerator (www.ranchworx.com). This can be used in pasture, hay meadow and rangeland situations. The aerator has two 20-inch drums with 8-inch blades that cut into the soil and help improve water infiltration.

If you are interested in this piece of equipment, call us so we can help to develop a plan for implementing this on your property. We will hopefully be getting this aerator by the end of this year, making it available to landowners starting next spring.

Probably the most unique piece of equipment is the portable water trailer. This is a trailer that can either pump water from an existing well, spring or creek to a series of tanks up to a quarter-mile away from the source. The trailer holds the solar panels, hose reel full of pipe and tanks. This has been used on grazing allotments to provide offsite water to better aid in livestock distribution or to provide water where it currently doesn’t exist.

The district also has a set of portable corrals and a loading chute that can be utilized for loading and unloading cattle. It can comfortably hold 200 to 250 pairs depending on how it is set up. The panels either come on a gooseneck trailer or on the side of the loading chute.

The last tool is the portable hydraulic squeeze chute and portable tub and alley. These pieces of equipment are available for people to utilize for working cattle and their primary purpose is for use when bleeding females for brucellosis testing.

For the use of these two pieces of equipment we have entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Wyoming Livestock Board and Sublette County brand inspector Mike Vickrey is in charge of checking panels and the chute in and out, so give him a call at 307-367-2120 if you are interested in utilizing them.

If you have any questions regarding this equipment or anything else natural-resource-related, please contact us at the Sublette County Conservation District at 307-367-2364.