The meeting will bring together District Directors from around the state representing the 216 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) in the state. The locally elected officials will be meeting with other state elected officials and state and federal agencies to discuss various issues dealing with soil and water conservation on privately owned farm and ranches in Texas. Approximately 800 persons are expected to attend.

Dub Crumley, Chairman, TSSWCB, will open the first General Session on Tuesday, Oct. 21. State Senator Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) will deliver the welcome message and give his views of soil and water conservation and the strength of the conservation partnership in place in Texas for more than six decades.

Also scheduled to speak at the meeting are state senator Kip Averitt (R-Waco); state representative Pete Gallego (D-Alpine); state representative Joe Pickett (D-El Paso); Kenneth Dierschke, president, Texas Farm Bureau; Larry D. Butler, state conservationist, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); Jose Dodier, president, Association of Texas SWCDs; Gary Mast, president, National Association of Conservation Districts; and Mike Bira, environmental scientist, Environmental Protection Agency.

SWCDs are local units of state government. Each district is composed of five locally elected District Directors who oversee the conservation programs within a given district. The SWCDs work with other agencies and organizations to deliver technical assistance and other program assistance on a voluntary basis to landowners and operators. The main partner to SWCDs is the NRCS.

For more information, contact Dawn Heitman at 800-792-3485.