Will Bomier

"It's kind of a new position,” he said. “There used to be a soil conservationist here years ago. This is one of the busiest offices in the Upper Peninsula and possibly in the state."

His new district encompasses the largest agricultural area in the Upper Peninsula, where more than 100 landowners have contracts with the NRCS, a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. The contracts are promises by local landowners to conserve soil and water resources, plant wildlife habitat, and protect the landscape.

Mr. Bomier will spend most of his time in the field working with farmers, ranchers, and other land users. He will suggest ways to conserve soil, improve water quality, manage nutrients, and protect and improve wildlife habitat to everyone from family farmers to local government officials. He can compile soil information, provide engineering assistance for waste storage pits, and design prescribed grazing systems and water diversion projects.

He will also create outdoor laboratories for students, make presentations, and perform conservation demonstrations to clubs and organizations.

Mr. Bomier will also help administer the Conservation Security Program, which rewards people who have been conserving water and soil resources on their property and provides incentives for people who are not to enroll.

The program is offered to farmland in the Carp River and Pine River watershed, which includes parts of Chippewa and Mackinac counties. To determine eligibility, producers can schedule an interview with Mr. Bomier through Friday, May 27.

The Carp/Pine rivers watershed was one of a handful of watersheds in the United States selected for the CSP.

"One of the reasons we got picked for the Conservation Security Program is because of all the conservation activity already going on," Mr. Bomier said. "It's really something to be proud of.”

Watersheds are selected on a rotating basis, and the next time this watershed will be eligible again will be at least six years from now.

Mr. Bomier grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota and studied biology and environmental science in college. He has spent many winters in the Raco area, west of Brimley, where he raises and trains sled dogs and is a competitive racer.

He can be contacted at the United States Department of Agriculture Service Center in Sault Ste. Marie at (906) 632-9611, extension 3.