Our Mission
Ohio’s 88 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) have been working for 75 years to provide locally-driven solutions to natural resource concerns at both the rural and urban settings. The Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (OFSWCD) supports the work of the SWCD’s in various capacities. We do this through legislative advocacy, public outreach, grant support, training, and development programs to better enable our SWCD’s to serve their communities. We are proud to work hand-and-hand with our Districts, as well as represent and support the important work they do throughout Ohio.
Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (OFSWCD) Composition
Each county Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is governed by a board of five locally elected officials, who are familiar with the county’s resource needs and can deliver a tailor-made conservation program. The OFSWCD is an organization comprised of each of those local supervisors, thereby totaling 440 supervisors. The OFSWCD is led by five officers: Past President, President, First Vice President, Second Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. The OFSWCD Board of Directors consists of the Officers and twenty-five supervisors, five supervisors from each of the given areas of the state. Both the officers and directors serve two-year terms.
OFSWCD Responsibilities
The OFSWCD meets to determine legislative needs, action items related to pending conservation issues, and makes recommendations on policy or rules. Training and development programs are also conducted throughout the year during various meetings to address current topics of concern or other items necessary to better serve the district staff and the constituency in the communities each district serves.
With the support of the OFSWCD, the SWCDs provide assistance to urban and agricultural land users, specializing in soil erosion prevention, water management, and efforts to improve soil health and water quality. The SWCDs work with farmers through a voluntary cooperative agreements. Services include survey and design of grassed waterways, erosion control structures, surface and subsurface drainage, farm ponds, windbreaks, livestock waste management facilities and much more.
The SWCDs also sponsor a number of informational and educational programs, including no-till field days, pond clinics, forestry and wildlife field days and teacher conservation workshops. Many districts are also involved with Ohio youth through classroom visits, poster and essay contests and various other programs -- including the Ohio Envirothon Competition and State Science Day. The SWCDs work collaboratively with the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Soil and Water Conservation, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and many other partners to deliver technical assistance, financial and other valuable conservation programs.
*The OFSWCD is a non-profit association organized under the Internal Revenue Service’ 501 (c) 3 classification.
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2023 OFSWCD Officer Team
