Agricultural News
NACD Elects New President, 2013 Leadership Team
Wed, 30 Jan 2013 10:08:42 CST
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) officially announced its new officer team for the years 2013-2014. The officers were elected by the NACD board during its meeting in San Antonio, Texas at the 2013 NACD Annual Meeting.
Earl Garber of Basile, Louisiana, was elected as the 2013 NACD president, replacing outgoing President Gene Schmidt, whose two-year term ended this year. Garber, a licensed crop consultant and rice, soybean and hay producer, held the position of Louisiana board member for NACD, prior to being elected as NACD second vice president in 2009, first vice president in 2011, and president-elect in 2012. He has served as chairman of the NACD Legislative Foundation committee for the past four years.
"I am honored and excited to serve as NACD president for the next two years. Our organization represents local district officials from all across our great nation and territories -- all with the common goal of natural resource conservation," Garber said. "With over 70 years of accomplishments, we look forward to continuing to grow our impact on conservation in the future, no matter what challenges lie ahead. As our population increases and society expectations change, additional demands will be placed on our resource base. The NACD membership, with such a broad representation of the society, is uniquely qualified to provide the knowledge base for locally led decision making. I look forward to the future, serving as the leader of such a diverse group, which can provide a national forum for implementing conservation on the landscape."
Lee McDaniel of Darlington, Maryland, was elected as NACD's first vice president. McDaniel is the owner of Indian Spring Farm LLC, an 850-acre beef cattle and crop farm. In addition to holding various leadership positions within NACD since 2005, McDaniel served as a member of the EPA Farm Ranch and Rural Communities committee from 2010-2011 and as president of the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts from 2005-2009.
The newly-elected second vice president is Brent Van Dyke of Hobbs, New Mexico. In addition to serving as the owner and operator of Agro/Biotech-a producer of high-quality horse hay-since 1987, Van Dyke has served as an agriculture education teacher and as an employee of the U.S. State Department for more than 30 years.
Dick Went of Scituate, Rhode Island, was elected as secretary/treasurer. Went has served in NACD leadership since 2008. He has also served in a variety of state-level positions, including: president of the Rhode Island Association of Conservation Districts, board member of the Rhode Island Conservators Organization, board member of the Rhode Island Envirothon, and member of the NRCS State Technical Committee.
In addition to the new officer team, the board elected the following new members to the executive board: Rick Jeans, South Central Region; Ron Brown, Northern Plains Region; Tim Palmer, North Central Region; Kimberly Lafleur, Northeast Region; and Shaun Sims, Southwest Region.
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