Conservation volunteers honored during National Volunteer Week

HURON — USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is celebrating National Volunteer Week April 23-29, by thanking and honoring its Earth Team volunteers for their service to conservation.
Earth Team is the agency’s volunteer workforce, and nationally, in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, more than 28,500 people donated 3,012,219 hours of service to NRCS valued at over $7.1 million.

“Volunteers work closely with our staff, and they play an important role in our state’s conservation work,” said Jeff Zimprich, State Conservationist, Huron.
Last year in South Dakota, 190 volunteers donated 2,328 service hours toward natural resources conservation. “Our volunteers are valuable in every aspect of conservation. We are especially proud of our volunteer ‘Voices for Soil Health’ who are speaking out for the soil resource by hosting tours, speaking at workshops, and sharing their story of steps they have taken toward healthier resources,” says Zimprich.
Earth Team is a program that partners volunteers with NRCS employees. Earth Team volunteers help NRCS conservationists provide private landowners and others a range of services from conservation technical assistance to teaching and generating awareness about conservation through community projects.
Learn more about the Earth Team Volunteer Program online at www.nrcs.usda.gov/earthteam or by calling 888-526-3227.