District conservationist accepts promotion

     A well-known proverb states when one door closes, another one opens.  After 20 years of promoting conservation and assisting hundreds of farmers in Jones County, District Conservationist Joe Wagner opened a new door and boldly walked through.

     Last September, Wagner took a position in Kentucky as Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Most people would be afraid to leave a job after two decades, but Wagner saw an opportunity and was brave enough to take it.  He weighed the pros and cons of taking the job and heading south was a plus.

     “My wife wanted to move to a warmer climate, so I took the position in Kentucky,” he said.

     A Dubuque native, Wagner first developed an appreciation for nature and an interest in conservation as a young boy when his father took him hunting.  He chose to pursue a career in natural resources, graduating from Iowa State with degrees in Fish & Wildlife Biology and Ag Journalism.

     After college, Wagner joined the Peace Corps and lived in Paraguay for two years. It was there that he met his wife Deolinda.  When they came back to the United States, he started his career with the Soil Conservation Service as a technician in North Central Iowa. He then became a soil conservationist in Postville, Iowa, working on a water quality project sponsored jointly by Cooperative Extension and NRCS. In 1999 he joined the Anamosa NRCS office as the District Conservationist.

     The Wagner family maintains a farm near Amber and lives by conservation principles. Over the years they have implemented many conservation practices on their property, including planting native prairie grasses, pollinator habitat, trees, shrubs and a windbreak.  They have conducted timber stand improvement, put in a vineyard and blueberry patch, and most recently planted chestnut trees. They also produce honey with several hives of bees.

   Wagner is enjoying the new knowledge that working in Kentucky brings. “Where I’m at in western Kentucky, the landscape is similar to Iowa, and the people there are good to work with.”

     Reflecting back on his job in Iowa, Wagner said, “Working with the Jones Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners was very rewarding. I miss that.”  The highlights of his career as District Conservationist included being involved in special projects, such as the Bear Creek, Farm Creek and Mineral Creek Watershed Projects, the Maquoketa River Watershed Alliance, the Center Junction sewer project, and conservation education outreach to schools.

     “I’ve learned that conservation comes from the heart and it is instilled in us at an early age,” Wagner said. “Young hands getting dirty in healthy soils today will be working on conservation projects tomorrow.”