COSHOCTON − After nearly 35 years of working for soil and water conservation, Deb Bigelow said it’s time to see what else life has to offer.

Bigelow will retire at the end of the year as administrator of the Coshocton County Soil and Water Conservation District. District Technician Ryan Medley will be taking over her post. Medley started with the office in 2007.

“I thought it would be the next best step forward and best for the district to not go find someone who might be new to it,” Medley said of taking the position. “(Board of Supervisors) encouraged me to do it and look at the position and we talked about it a bunch.”

The agency has two other district technicians, Zach Wallace and Michaela Savage, with Samantha Daugherty as administrative assistant. The agency has been in Coshocton for 81 years.

Bigelow came to Coshocton in 2008 from working for Knox County SWCD. She plans to stay in Coshocton County and continue to be active in the community, including supporting local agriculture.

“I feel like we’re in a very good situation here with a lot of young people behind me and it’s just time to step away,” she said on retirement.

Bigelow doesn’t want to draw attention to herself as she exits, but she does see it as an opportunity to put a focus on the conservation district and its importance to the community.

Soil and water conservation districts are political subdivisions of the State of Ohio focused on natural resource conservation in the areas they operate. The local district has five supervisors elected by county residents to oversee activities. The board is comprised of Beth Mullen, Greg Waters, David Lapp, Kristy Leindecker and Adrian Garber.

“Those members, when we have events, they are there. When we’re at board meetings, they’re engaged and doing what they’re supposed to be doing. We couldn’t ask for better support from the board than what we have,” Bigelow said. “I think the program is well thought of too for what they bring to it.”

The conservation district works closely with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Soil and Water Conservation.

Operating fund comes from the Coshocton County Commissioners Soil and Water Fund and matching dollars from the Ohio General Assembly. A small portion also comes from the City of Coshocton. The annual average budget is about $300,000.

Medley said they try to provide leadership to educate and assist landowners in wise management and improvement of natural resources with the purpose of being recognized as a community leader committed to a cooperative approach.

“We help producers in the county apply conservation practices to their land, whether that’s farmers or homeowners. Any landowner in the county that wants to do a practice or a has a question or concern on conserving natural resources, we try to have some part in that,” Medley said.

Bigelow said education has always been important to her, whether it’s adults or children.

“It’s important for us to educate them on the importance of soil and water and the fact that all of our food comes from the soil. If we don’t take care of it, we’re not going to have food to eat at the grocery store like we should have,” she said.

Both said community support for the agency is strong and an important part in some public events they sponsor, like the First Farm Friday every August.

“We’ve always been an agency well favored in the community,” Medley said. “All the districts were started by community support and we wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t there years ago.”

Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District can be found online and called at 740-622-8087, ext. 4.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X 9 (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Coshocton County Soil and Water Conservation District has new leader