Become A Cooperator

Membership

Cimarron County, Oklahoma, 1936, Photo: Arthur Rothstein (Wikipedia)

It’s a tradition that goes back to the 1930’s: we call our members “Cooperators.”

In the midst of the decade-long environmental disaster known as the Dust Bowl, the U.S. government created the Soil Conservation Service to promote environmentally sound methods of farming.  Farmers and landowners, called “cooperators,” were given the power to organize locally-governed Soil Conservation Districts to oversee and guide the work of the federal agency within each District.  Today, Soil & Water Conservation Districts partner with the successor of the Soil Conservation Service, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, along with a host of federal, state, and local agencies and organizations to achieve their conservation aims.

Why become a Cooperator?

  • By becoming a Cooperator of the Kenai Soil & Water Conservation District, you join a community of local landowners who have pledged to follow a conservation ethic when  developing natural resources on their land.  
  • The District, with technical assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, can help you set goals for resource development and then assist you in attaining those goals, i.e. reforesting your land, creating wildlife habitat ponds, developing new farmland, preventing erosion, installing livestock fencing, managing invasive weeds, etc.. 
  • Cooperators have priority access to the wide variety of rental equipment owned by the District, as well as borrowing privileges for the District’s library.
  • As a Cooperator, you will receive newsletters and/or email updates to inform you about District projects and alert you to upcoming issues that might affect your land or land use around you.  
  • A Cooperator is also a voting member and eligible for a seat on the District Board of Supervisors, the five-member volunteer board that steers the course of the District and chooses which projects it will undertake. District Supervisors are elected by the Cooperators to represent them on the District Board and serve for a three-year term.
  • Becoming a Cooperator gives you a voice and a vote!

How to become a Cooperator?

Fill out the Cooperator’s Agreement and mail or deliver it to the District office at 110 Trading Bay, Suite 160, Kenai, AK  99611.