Two NRCS Zones Team Up at Pond Management Training Workshop

USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Pond Management Training was held near Coleman, Texas, on June 1, 2006. The training took place on a lake owned by Tommy and Kathy Saunders, who is a soil conservationist with the Ballenger Service Center. What was unique about this pond management training workshop is it was a joint effort "across zone boundaries" between the San Angelo (Zone 2) and Weatherford (Zone 5) offices, along with state office personnel educating several NRCS employees.

Instructors were NRCS Texas State Wildlife Biologist Russell Castro, retired NRCS State Wildlife Biologist Gary Valentine, and Zone Wildlife Biologists Steve Nelle (Zone 2) and Ricky Linex (Zone 5). There were 32 younger NRCS employees selected from both zones attending the one-day training workshop, which included classroom and on-the-water training. Some of the educational demonstrations taught by the instructors were aquatic weed identification, shock boat demonstrations, along with seining and rotenone demonstrations were used to evaluate the health of the water body. As for wildlife, channel catfish, largemouth bass, and sunfish were evaluated using length and weight charts to determine health of the fishery.

Gary Valentine, who many wildlife professionals consider the dean of pond management in Texas, provided an excellent PowerPoint presentation on managing ponds, and led the discussion with the group in the water.

“This training effort could not have been as effective without the knowledge and practical experience that Gary brings to the group,” said Linex. “Gary’s training style captures the attention of everyone, and his practical knowledge of aquatic management provided a wealth of opportunity to learn about pond management.”

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