USDA-NRCS Attends the 69th Annual Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts and TSSWCB Meeting

Going into its 69th year, the annual state meeting of district directors for the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) gathered at the Arlington Convention Center on Oct. 19-21, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) attended the meeting addressing conservation issues while introducing new programs and technology available to the public.

NRCS had a booth focusing on the Web Soil Survey with new information for landowners and producers, conservation educational materials, and even a game of Conservation Jeopardy was available testing the knowledge of booth visitors about conservation topics and the environment.

Plus, Don Gohmert, NRCS Texas state conservationist, delivered a powerful presentation during the general session targeting accomplishments the agency has achieved during 2009 in his annual report to the TSSWCB. Several new conservation program issues and new partnerships were mentioned, along with statistics that brought Texas to the forefront in some categories overall nationally.

“Our partners have never been so involved and NRCS could not reach our goals in Texas without their support,” Gohmert said. “We now have more partners than ever and new ones working with us that had not done it before.”

Among the highlights of Gohmert’s report to the TSSWCB during the general session were the accomplishments NRCS Texas had achieved and ranked nationwide for conservation programs and funding.

“Here in Texas, NRCS had a tremendously productive year with our programs reaching $84.8 million in contracts with 3,428 contracts funded on 301,637 acres,” Gohmert said.

While presiding over the general session, Jose Dodier, Jr., chairman of the TSSWCB in Zapata, and other TSSWCB members gave out annual awards to winners that entered the state contest in specific categories. The TSSWCB state contest winners included:

The second day of the meeting in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 19-21 at the Arlington Convention Center, brought several distinguished speakers including NRCS Texas State Conservationist Don Gohmert. In this photo, he presented statistics to the general session about the accomplishments and new programs that were highlighted in the state, along with conservation program funding numbers that led the nation within the agency.	There were state contest winners present at the 69th annual meeting to receive their awards for specific categories including essay winners. Emma Neuendorff, right, representing Fayette SWCD #336 holds the TSSWCB award for best essay in the 13 years of age and under category with her mother Kim Neuendorff, left, of LaGrange, Texas.
Standing in front of the TSSWCB and Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts display at the 69th annual meeting of the directors, Shanna Gleason, second from left, stands with her award in front of her state contest winning poster entitled Dig It! The Secrets of Soil. Shanna is the four-year-old daughter of Jerry Gleason, far left, NRCS district conservationist in Throckmorton, Texas.	The Web Soil Survey is one of the newest online technologies that NRCS offers to all its customers throughout Texas and nationwide. This exhibit shows the Web Soil Survey experience, and Dennis Williamson, NRCS state soil scientist in Temple and Nathan Haile, NRCS zone soil scientist in Weatherford, manned the booth for visitors inquiring about the new technology available online from NRCS and how to use it.