Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District is governed by a board of five elected supervisors. Supervisors are elected on the general ballot and serve four year terms.
Board of Supervisors
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Loyal Fisher, Vice Chair, e-mail Loyal@centurytel.net (Loyal can be contacted regarding questions on parliamentary procedure) represents District 5. Term expires 2012
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Marc Iverson, Chair, represents District 3. Term expires 2010
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James Schafer, represents District 1. Term expires 2012
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Dave Guggisberg Sec/Treas., represents District 2. Dave was elected to a four year term in November 2008.
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Kathryn K. Kelly, email kkkay@hotmail.com represents District 4. Kathryn also represents Area VI which is a 9 county area in South Central Minnesota, on the Minnesota Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts Board. She was elected Vice President of the Minnesota Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts at the December 2008 Annual Meeting. Her term on the Renville SWCD Board expires 2010.
The Regular meeting of the Renville SWCD Board of Supervisors is held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:00 a.m. at the Ag Services Building, 1008 West Lincoln in Olivia. If you are unable to access the agenda on this website, please call the office for a copy.
SWCD Staff
Tom Kalahar, Karen Flom & Tara Latozke
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Tom Kalahar, Technician
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Karen Flom, Office Manager
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Taralee Latozke, Technician.
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Farm Bill Technician: Jason Beckler, Pheasant's Forever Farm Bill Biologist took over responsibility for this position June 8, 2009. (See News Page for more information & photo)
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Jeff Kjorness, (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) District Conservationist
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Mike Anderson (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) Technician
Call Jason Beckler, Farm Bill Biologist, for assistance with any USDA Farm Bill Conservation Programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Continuous CRP (CCRP) and the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP). He can evaluate your land for eligibility and give you a quote. He will work with you to design a CRP or CCRP Contract that will fit into your overall operation.
Tom Kalahar has 30 years of experience at the Renville SWCD. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Crookston His major program responsibilities are easement programs and feedlot inspections. Tom is currently working with several surrounding counties on expanding the easement program to protect Granite Rock Outcrops in the MN River Valley. The LCCMR funded this project to protect these rare and unique areas of Renville & Redwood counties last year. Those funds were quickly encumbered to fund four easements totaling 212 acres.
Karen Flom has been employed by the SWCD for the past 15 years as the Office Manager. She is a graduate of Moorhead State University. She came to the district with many years of experience in other governmental agencies. Her program responsibilities include SWCD Board of Supervisors support, general office duties including all areas of fiscal management and coordinating education programs.
Taralee Latozke joined the staff in June of 2007 but had several years of experience working with landowners in Renville and surrounding counties on the USDA WRP Program. During that time she was a Minnesota Waterfowl Association employee for several years and during that time she worked with all aspects of the WRP program from initial site investigation to application to easement processing to practice implementation. Tara is responsible for the SWCD tree program, the Wetland Conservation Act and the State Cost-Share program. She also reviews rain garden designs and mining reclamation plans. She serves as a liaison to all of the Watershed Projects. Tara is a graduate of South Dakota State University.
Cooperating Watershed Projects
Hawk Creek Watershed
Coordinator, Cory Netland
Field Staff, Dean Dambroten
Technician/Educator, Stephanie Klamm
Crow River Watershed
Coordinator, Diane Sander,
High Island Watershed
Coordinator, Joel Werscher