The Leavenworth County Conservation District recently named Pearce, who’s lived at 25927 DeHoff Drive since 1985, as a soil conservation winner. She and other award recipients will be honored during a reception at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, at the Lansing Community Center.

Pearce said she was elated to win the award.

“I thought it was very nice,” she said. “I was pleased because the farm has always been very important to me. … I’m very interested in keeping it up.”

Pearce said she received the award based on her implementation of grass terraces and buffer strips on the 167-acre farm.

The terraces keep water from rushing across the fields, thus preserving soil. The buffer strips keep water run-off from polluting a nearby creek, Pearce said.

Environmental experts promote soil conservation as an essential tool in wise management of natural resources and protecting them for sustained use. A nationwide conservation district exists, and there are 105 total organizations in Kansas.

The Pearce farm has been in the family since 1943, when Nancy Pearce’s father, John Taylor, owned the property. Mrs. Pearce, and her late husband, Darrell Pearce, built a house there in 1985.

Since then, the family ensured the land was taken care of and served multiple purposes. They’ve rented the ground for farming since 1990 and a sprawling, 12-acre lake built in 1961 has not only agricultural uses, but community ones as well.

The lake, which adds a mystical quality to the property, is available for local farmers to use for irrigation. Most often, it is used for outings by church groups and youth organizations, Pearce said.

Pearce said she is honored to win the conservation award and pledged to further enhance her family’s legacy by maintaining it for the future.

“Quality land is important,” she said. “There’s only so many inches between starving. If they say I need it, I’ll do it.”