Apr 24, 2021

Applications through May 7 are being accepted for the vacant seat on the board of supervisors for the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District. Supervisors are elected to four-year terms. The vacancy is for Seat 3, which was held by board chairman Michael Hepburn, a veteran board member who died earlier this year. The much-respected and committed board member was a much-beloved teacher at Riverview High School. He started his job there the first year the school opened, in 1998.

"Conservation districts were established by the Florida Legislature under Florida Statute 582 in 1937 to help oversee the state's natural resource management," said Betty Jo Tompkins, HSWCD executive director, in the 2021 Hillsborough 100 Conservation Challenge tabloid written by the HSWCD and published by the Tampa Bay Times. "Shortly thereafter, the HSWCD was created. Over the years, as challenges have faced our natural resources, the district has grown and adapted to meet emerging needs."

Governed by its elected board of five supervisors, the HSWCD is one of nearly 3,000 conservation districts nationwide. Among its other functions, the HSWCD works to educate, communicate, assist, support, coordinate and promote best conservations practices through programs, projects and activities designed for families, farmers, schools, civic clubs, businesses, individuals and agricultural interests in inner-city, urban, suburban and rural communities.

The board meets bi-monthly and the public is invited to attend. The board's chair and vice chair, respectively, are Kathy Eckdahl (Seat 1) and Andrew Brooks (Seat 5). Treasurer is Sonja Brookins (Seat 4). Karen Cox Jaroch fills Seat 2.

For more information, call Betty Jo Tompkins at 813-v 477-8332. Email: bjt6890@gmail.com.