The 2022 annual meeting of Virginia’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts was a success! The meeting was held from December 4-6 at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. The three days were very eventful for our directors that attended, Carey Allen and Laura Thompson, and Associate Directors, John (Zane) Bernard and Avis Bennet. Also in attendance were James River Soil & Water staff, District Manager Brianna Morring, and Conservation Specialist Joseph (Joe) Gerdes. Brianna was elected as president of the Virginia Association of Conservation District Employees.  

Monday included General Session with multiple guest speakers. Dr. Edwin Martinez Martinez from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Matt Wells from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Kelly Altizer from the UVA Institute for Engagement and Negotiation all gave powerful presentations. There was then a concurrent session made up of a case study in understanding cost share, a VCAP relaunch, a session on leading from your position, and reaching new partners for conservation success. Additional concurrent sessions followed. These sessions composed of reviewing new administrator resources, reviewing the legislative agenda and identifying priorities, listening to SWCDs share examples, learning about the education programming and projects, sharing examples of how to reach students and communities through programming, listening to an update on marketing projects with the Marketing Tool Kit and other training opportunities, speaking with the DCR Senior Public Relations and Marketing Specialist Rebecca Jones, reviewing the Ag BMP Technical Advisory Committee structure and process, and learning of opportunities for our SWCD to be engaged and play a role in critical work. Area meetings were conducted, Where Director Carey Allen led Area Six a Chair. 

Tuesday, the final day of the Soil and Water Conference, commenced with a general session. This session’s speaker was Wendy Berenson of InnerWill. The five practices of value-based leadership, building awareness, realizing potential, developing relationships, taking action, and practicing reflection, were explored. Concurrent sessions occurred in the afternoon. These consisted of the VASWCD Annual Membership Business Meeting, a soil health session, cross-training staff on VACS tracking and the Logi system, and an educational field trip to the Science Museum of West Virginia. The day ended with the VASWCD Annual Banquet, where John “Zane” Bernard won the Associate Director of the year award! Zane has volunteered over 273 hours towards James River Soil and Water thus far. 

Carey, Laura, Zane, and Avis had a great time at the Soil and Water Conference and cannot wait to share and implement the tools and information they gained in their further endeavors within their conservation careers.