Paris, Tenn.–The Henry County Soil and Conservation field office in Paris was recently honored to receive the 2021 Hugh Hammond Bennett Spirit of the Agency Award. This award is given to a federal, state, and/or local employee or partner that showcases and exemplifies the NRCS mission of “Helping People, Help the Land”. The award recipient embodies the spirit of the agency by providing exemplary customer service and technical assistance thus demonstrating a passion and ethic for delivering natural resource conservation opportunities. Officials said, “We are very grateful to receive the Spirit of the Agency Award and look forward to continuing to serve our community while helping to provide conservation in Henry County!”
According to an article by Roger RyDell Daniels, NRCS public affairs specialist, during the year, the Paris Field Office was able to evaluate more than 150 Farm Bill Program applications resulting in 30 new farm aid contracts and $860,000 in obligations, one new Agricultural Conservation Easement Program-Wetlands Reserve Easements recipient, and they wrote 50 Conservation Reserve Program plans.
Internally, the field office were major contributors to Area 1 the Soil and Water Action Team, and assisted Carroll and Benton Counties with 25 Highly Erodible Land and Conservation Reserve Program plans, Conservation Stewardship Program evaluations and Conservation Assessment Ranking Tool rankings. They also assisted Weakley County with 20 Conservation Reserve Program plans; Gibson County with 25 Environmental Quality Incentives Program contracts; and Henderson County with Emergency Conservation Program.