Newly elected conservation district supervisors take oath of office

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Standing in a meeting room at the Town Center Marriott, Charleston, W.Va., conservation district supervisors took their oaths of office administered by West Virginia Conservation Committee Chairman Gus R. Douglass on Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. Douglass also serves as the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture.

Afterward, the conservation supervisors attended orientation sessions to learn procedures, rules and guidelines pertaining to their office and duties. The staff at the West Virginia Conservation Agency prepared and implemented the training.

From Kanawha County in the Capitol Conservation District, the supervisors who took the oath of office were Clyde Bailey, Fred Hayes, Robin Holstein, and Sally Shepherd.

While these conservation supervisors were the first to win their seats during the general election in November 2008, future conservation supervisors are to be voted into office in primary elections starting in 2010.

“I want to impress upon you the seriousness of your duties as conservation district supervisors,” Douglass said. “You are now stewards of your conservation districts and natural resources.”

        With funding from the West Virginia Legislature, the board of supervisors at each conservation district works to develop and implement programs to protect and conserve soil, water, woodland, wildlife and other renewable natural resources in rural and urban settings around the state.

West Virginia is divided into 14 conservation districts: Capitol, Eastern Panhandle, Elk, Greenbrier Valley, Guyan, Little Kanawha, Monongahela, Northern Panhandle, Potomac Valley, Southern, Tygarts Valley, Upper Ohio, West Fork and Western.

While most conservation districts encompass a number of designated counties, the exception is the Capitol Conservation District, which is comprised of one county, Kanawha.

Each board of conservation district supervisors is assigned at least two seats for each county, but may be given more if the population increases to 100,000 or more. The county with the most conservation supervisors is Kanawha with five. The other counties are allotted two.

The conservation districts with counties inside their boundaries are as follows:

• Capitol Conservation District,

Kanawha County;

• Eastern Panhandle Conservation District,

Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties;

• Elk Conservation District,

Braxton, Clay, Nicholas and Webster counties;

• Greenbrier Valley Conservation District,

Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas counties,

• Guyan Conservation District,

Boone, Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo and Wayne counties;

• Little Kanawha Conservation District,

Calhoun, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, Wood counties;

• Monongahela Conservation District,

Marion, Monongalia and Preston counties;

• Northern Panhandle Conservation District,

Brooke, Hancock, Marshall and Ohio counties

• Potomac Valley Conservation District,

Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral and Pendleton counties,

• Southern Conservation District

Fayette, McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties;

• Tygarts Valley Conservation District,

Barbour, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker and Upshur counties;

• Upper Ohio Conservation District,

Pleasants, Tyler and Wetzel counties;

• West Fork Conservation District,

Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison and Lewis counties; and

• Western Conservation District,

Jackson, Mason and Putnam counties.

Conservation districts are guided by the West Virginia Conservation Committee and supported by the West Virginia Conservation Agency. More information is available from local conservation district offices and the West Virginia Conservation Agency.

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