USU Cooperative Extension Receives Conservation Award

A Utah Conservation Leadership Recognition Award was given to Utah State University Cooperative Extension at the Utah Conservation Commission meeting in Layton in November.

Extension Associate Vice President Chuck Gay received the award for USU Cooperative Extension. The award was presented during the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service. It was also the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the national commitment to conservation on private working lands.

Sylvia Gillen, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Utah, presented the award to Gay.

“This proud conservation legacy would not be possible without our many conservation partners in Utah,” she said. “It is a proud and remarkable legacy made possible by working with dedicated conservationists such as you and your organization.”

According to Gay, USU Cooperative Extension has worked closely with the NRCS from the beginning, assisting farmers and ranchers to be sustainable economically and environmentally. 

“Our history of partnership has been productive and beneficial to the people of Utah,” he said.

Gay noted that it was also especially meaningful to receive the award from Gillen.

“Her father was one of my cooperators more than 40 years ago when I was range Extension specialist in New Mexico, and she was a top 4-H youth at the time,” he said. “I had the opportunity to present her awards at a county 4-H ceremony once, and now the tables are turned, and she was the one presenting the award to me.”

Utah has reached many important conservation milestones since the beginning of the NRCS 75 years ago. Gillen said that since the 2002 Farm Bill, more than $142 million have been used on 1.7 million acres under 3,720 contracts.

Contact: Charles Gay, Associate Vice President & Extension Associate Professor, (435) 797-8103, chuck.gay@usu.edu