Recently, our stewardship coordinator Bre Owens had the pleasure of speaking with Wendell Gilgert about two under-appreciated, and time-sensitive, ways for landowners to become leaders of local land stewardship: Serving on an FSA county committee or on the board of your local conservation district.

Wendell is a retired Wildlife Biologist and Soil Conservationist, who served landowners for 34 years in his career with the NRCS, before developing the Rangeland Watershed Initiative in partnership with Point Blue Conservation Science in California.

If you are a landowner and have an interest in the stewardship of resources and working lands in your county, you should know more about these two options through USDA to get involved.

Nominations for seats on county committees in some locations are currently open and will remain so until August 2nd. To find out if your county is currently accepting nominations, contact your local FSA office. To find more information on the process, including nomination forms, visit fsa.usda.gov/elections.

You can also learn more about FSA County Committee participation by viewing these recent committee member profiles on FSA’s Fence Post Blog:

In This Together, Wesley Sullivan – Comanche County, OK
Serving our Neighbors, Lois Manigold – Grand Traverse County, MI
Giving Back to the Ag Community, Paula Sue Steffen – Richardson County, NB
Growing in the City, Maureen Breen – Philadelphia County, PA