About
The Function of the Conservation District
To take all available technical, financial, and educational resources, whatever their source, and focus or coordinate them so that they meet the needs of the local land user for conservation of soil, water, and related resources.
Adapted from Pete Nowak’s “The Conservation District Official: Villain or Victim?”
Governance
Districts are legal subdivisions of state government. They are funded through county and state general funds and cannot levy taxes or bonds.
The VSWCD is governed by a 5-member, locally-elected Board of Supervisors serving four-year-terms. Associate Supervisors are appointed by the Board as technical consultants. These local landowners volunteer their time to help conserve the area’s natural resources. Board members are your neighbors and they are available to help you pursue, assess, and implement conservation practices on your property and in your community.
Meet the Board
Art Troutner
Board Chairman (2020-2024)
A board member since 1986, Art was first inspired to serve the District after watching the SCS short film “The Plow that Broke the Plain.” Art’s background is in Plant Science and he has worked as a farmhand/irrigator, custom hay contractor, sawmill laborer, trail maintenance contractor, and builder. Art also volunteers with the Idaho Trails Association during snow-free months. The primary concern of Art and the District has been, and remains, to find ways to improve water quality in Cascade Reservoir.
John Lillehaug
Board Treasurer (2022-2026)
John has been a professional forester for 50 years. For 40 years, he’s been assisting private landowners with insect control, disease management, and soil and erosion problems to develop forestry mitigation and treatment plans. John’s passion lies in improving forest health and private landowner stewardship. Serving the District since 2014, he likes working to provide one-on-one assistance to landowners to improve forestry practices.
Bill Leaf
Board Supervisor (2022-2026)
Bill operates a ranch in Lake Fork that has been in his family for almost 120 years. He raises cattle and hay. He was also an educator at Cascade Schools for 32 years. Bill runs the no till drill program for the District. He joined the board in 2021 and is passionate about soil and water in the county because he wants to ensure that we can continue to supply water for agricultural uses for years to come.
Colt Brown
Board Supervisor (2022-2024)
Colt is a farmer in the Donnelly area. He produces Timothy hay, certified gluten-free oats, and different seed crops such as peas, oats, and carrots. Since joining the Board in 2021, he has helped producers convert their irrigation practices from flood irrigation to pivot systems. Colt likes doing this work because his livelihood is dependent on clean water and healthy soils and he would like to preserve farmland for future generations.
Judy Anderson
Board Supervisor (2023-2024)
Appointed to the board this year, Judy is an avid gardener in Lake Fork. She taught for 18 years at McCall-Donnelly High School and also worked for the Payette National Forest doing riparian inventories. Judy believes that caring for and restoring our soil and water is the most important task facing our community and is the basis of a true, healthy economy.
Lenard Long
Associate Supervisor (Appointed 2023)
Lenard’s background is in civil and geotechnical engineering with an emphasis on environmental remediation. Today, he mainly focuses on water quality issues in Lake Cascade. Working with the VSWCD is important to him because the water quality of the lake affects his health and the health of his community.
Pam Pace
Associate Supervisor (Appointed 2023)
Pam specializes in sustainable water supply. She studied civil engineering with a focus on hydrology and worked in water resources for most her career. As an Associate Supervisor, she is working to educate others about and expand cloud seeding programs in our area to help maintain adequate water quantity and quality in our beautiful streams, rivers, and lakes for generations to come.
In memory of Paul R. Kleint Jr.
A Board Supervisor since 1985, Paul passed away on March 14, 2022 at the age of 86. He owned and operated Needles View Ranch in Donnelly; his family’s homestead. Paul loved the hard, challenging, and wonderful way of life of ranching and farming. Paul was active in encouraging and assisting others to improve their agricultural lands. He was an incredible supervisor and will be dearly missed. He loved the work of the District as the bridge between landowners and agencies in Valley County.
Mission
We encourage cooperation among landowners, government agencies, private organizations, and elected officials to improve natural resources thereby ensuring an adequate natural resource base for present and future generations.
We believe that knowledge, peer involvement, cooperation, and incentives are the best methods to improve soil and water resources.
History
The 1930’s Dust Bowl soil erosion crisis brought national attention to the importance of soil conservation. In Idaho, 1934 brought extreme drought, 56% of normal water supply, and 25% of the state had lost more than ¾ of its topsoil. Congress unanimously declared soil conservation a national policy priority. However, it became clear that the country-wide adoption of conservation practices would only be possible if communities worked together to solve the specific problems that each area faced. Conservation districts were initially formed by farmers and ranchers who wanted to come together to solve soil erosion and irrigation issues in their districts.
VSWCD has implemented natural resource conservation programs and provided assistance to local landowners since 1957. The District provides technical, financial, and educational assistance to private landowners and our community partners to help conserve soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources. All of our information is free-of-charge. The District is funded by a combination of local and state monies. Demands on soil, water, and other natural resources in Valley County are compounding and becoming more complex today than when the we organized in 1957. Over the years, our programs have adapted to meet the needs created by changing land uses, a growing population, and recreation industry.
While the District still provides support to farmers and ranchers, Valley County was “discovered” during the 1970s, and the number of farms decreased while the population of the county increased by 55%. It became clear that a voice for conservation was needed to ensure proposed developments considered soil and water quality in their plans. Since the 1980s the VSWCD has worked with the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission to provide natural resource input on proposed developments.
Since the 1970s, VSWCD has been addressing declining lake and reservoir water quality, its risks to livestock, and the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms. VSWCD partners with federal, state, and local organizations and private landowners to implement water quality improvements in our streams, rivers, and lakes. While continuing to help farmers, ranchers, and private landowners stabilize streambanks, install center pivots, and build riparian and livestock fencing, the district helps gather and compile data for various watershed management plans for our local waterways. The North Fork Payette River Watershed Coalition is a way to accelerate this work by efficiently identifying and coordinating water quality efforts across the watershed.
Becoming a Board Member of the Valley Soil & Water Conservation District
Concerned citizens in Valley County can help conserve natural resources by serving on the Valley Soil & Water Conservation District Board. If the issues and programs listed on our website and in our newsletters interest you, please consider becoming a board member.
Conservation District Board Member Job Description
Conservation district officials serve on a multi-member board that establishes and implements programs to protect and conserve soil, water, prime and unique farmland, rangeland, woodland, wildlife, energy, and other renewable resources on local, non-federal lands.
Duties:
- Identify local conservation needs and develop, implement, and evaluate programs to meet those needs.
- Educate and inform landowners and operators, general public, and local, state, and federal legislators on conservation issues and programs.
- Supervise other volunteers and paid staff working with the district and coordinate with cooperating agency personnel.
- Administer the district by delegating tasks through a structure of board officers and members, committees, and others; raise and budget district funds and report on activities to the public.
- Coordinate assistance and funding from federal, state, and local government; district associations; and private groups.
Qualifications:
- Interest and background in conserving renewable natural resources
- Knowledge of key natural resource issues in our community
- Communication skills
- Strong leadership skills
Benefits:
- Satisfaction in seeing conservation practices applied
- Interaction with others interested in natural resource conservation
- Input into local, state, and federal conservation programs
- Training through the state conservation agency
Time Required: Approximately 30 days/year
- Attend 12 regularly scheduled board meetings
- Attend committee, special meetings, and events as needed
Steps to Become a Board Member
Step 1:
Fill out the District Board Member Self-Nomination Form.
Step 2:
Fill out the District Board Member Information Form.
Step 3:
Turn in the completed forms to the District Manager, Durena Farr.
Email forms to: Durena.Farr@id.nacdnet.net
Mail forms to: P.O. Box 580, Cascade, ID 83611
Step 4:
Elections – Held in November on Even years
You must file a Declaration of Candidacy and Special District Office Petition for Candidacy with the County Clerk on or before September 1 of the election year. These forms can be found here.
For more information, please review the Idaho Election Consolidation Manual.
Step 5:
Start serving your neighbors and conserving our natural resources.
For more information, please read the Idaho Soil Conservation District Supervisor Handbook