Alexandria’s Dave Nomsen talks the state of conservation after retirement from Pheasants Forever | Echo Press
Alexandria’s Dave Nomsen talks the state of conservation after retirement from Pheasants Forever
Written By: Eric Morken | Jun 17th 2020 - 6pm.
Dave Nomsen moved to Alexandria in 1992 after growing up in Iowa where his father was the chief pheasant biologist for what is now the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The conservation portion of the federal farm bill affects many programs that support farmer’s efforts to improve water quality and soil health, while also providing habitat for wildlife. Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever president and CEO Howard K. Vincent called Nomsen the face of the Conservation Reserve Program within the wildlife community. CRP was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and continues today, providing payments to landowners to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that benefit water quality and wildlife alike.
Nomsen has made more than 300 trips from Alexandria to Washington, DC over his career to testify, lead volunteer groups and talk with legislators about conservation-related programs. In this question-and-answer story, Nomsen talked with the Echo Press about the current state of conservation, how it’s changed during his time with PF and where opportunities might be going forward with conservation policy. The story has been edited for clarity and length.
I didn’t get things done out there. The organization and the voice of our members, our farmers and landowners, everyone else. That’s how things get done out there. I’m just a way to engage. It’s tough to talk about DC right now. There’s so much of what I call the pull of the political noise, and all of the harsh rhetoric. If you can manage to get beyond all that, there are some very important ways that people’s voices can be heard out there, and you can get things done.
Alexandria’s Dave Nomsen talks the state of conservation after retirement from Pheasants Forever | Echo Press
Alexandria’s Dave Nomsen talks the state of conservation after retirement from Pheasants Forever
Written By: Eric Morken | Jun 17th 2020 - 6pm.
Dave Nomsen moved to Alexandria in 1992 after growing up in Iowa where his father was the chief pheasant biologist for what is now the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The conservation portion of the federal farm bill affects many programs that support farmer’s efforts to improve water quality and soil health, while also providing habitat for wildlife. Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever president and CEO Howard K. Vincent called Nomsen the face of the Conservation Reserve Program within the wildlife community. CRP was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and continues today, providing payments to landowners to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species t
hat benefit water quality and wildlife alike.
Nomsen has made more than 300 trips from Alexandria to Washington, DC over his career to testify, lead volunteer groups and talk with legislators about conservation-related programs. In this question-and-answer story, Nomsen talked with the Echo Press about the current state of conservation, how it’s changed during his time with PF and where opportunities might be going forward with conservation policy. The story has been edited for clarity and length.
I didn’t get things done out there. The organization and the voice of our members, our farmers and landowners, everyone else. That’s how things get done out there. I’m just a way to engage. It’s tough to talk about DC right now. There’s so much of what I call the pull of the political noise, and all of the harsh rhetoric. If you can manage to get beyond all that, there are some very important ways that people’s voices can be heard out there, and you can get things done.