Wadena SWCD Board Supervisor, Tom Schulz, Looks Back at the Last 50 Years
Cultivating a Career
Agriculture and conservation have always been the backbone of Wadena County native Tom Schulz's professional and personal career. The culprit, or his family farm (now Evergreen Lane Farm), was founded as a dairy facility back in 1888 that grew the agricultural taproot, fueling the conservation-lined roots that slowly branched out.
Prior to 1975, Schulz’s main goal was becoming an agriculture teacher focusing on economics rather than picking rock, milking cows, and stacking haybales on the homestead. However, the Vietnam War, as well as his father’s passing, put Schulz’s education on hold and his agricultural upbringing back into the spotlight.
What was considered a setback at the time actually cultivated Schulz’s career within conservation because of the farm’s implementation of contour farming along the drumlins of their property. The practice, along with Schulz winning the FFA award for placing first in the soil judging contest, caught the attention of the Soil Conservation Service (now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service or NRCS), and the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) board, when they approached Schulz 50 years ago to become one of the board supervisors for the Wadena SWCD.
Conserving Wadena County
Schulz was officially sworn in on January 20, 1975, and has strived to continuously accomplish the same primary goal: applying conservation to the land.
“Resources obviously decrease vastly when they’re in use, so making sure we use our available resources regeneratively has always been a goal of mine,” Schulz explained. “I think we’ve accomplished it and a lot of others too, but implementation of a practice generally stops after the payment is received, which is something we still see today and still is something to overcome.”
Since joining the SWCD board, Schulz quickly found himself balancing the family farm, continuing his education, his participation on multiple other local, county, and state boards, and his family—a juggling act that continues even today—but one Schulz enjoys immensely.
“I’ve always had the desire to lead,” Schulz said. “And when people are willing to learn, it makes serving in that regard much more fun and harder to give up."
It also helps when your ideas come into fruition, especially when they benefit conservation. One of Schulz’s early suggestions as a board supervisor was to honor a local conservationist every year with photos and rhetoric to showcase what they’ve done on their land as an act of encouragement toward others to do likewise as they’re able.
“The concept was a huge hit at our annual meeting in 1980, with lots of local and state representation present,” Schulz said with a smile. “The next year, a similar outreach effort to recognize conservation at the local level was presented at the state’s annual convention! And they’ve done it every year since then.”
Though being a part of a board can help grow exciting aspects in both conservation and agriculture, it can also cultivate challenges, which Schulz has dealt with his fair share of throughout his time as a board supervisor. However, he also related that serving with men decades older than him was instructive, as they were not afraid of challenges. If public funds were limited, they would approach the respective individuals to get projects done, the first being the irrigation feasibility, which was completed with the aid of the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
“Those board members I had worked with were truly part of ‘The Greatest Generation,’” Schulz explained. “And in retrospect, we often stand on the shoulders of those who go before us, and those older board members bring wisdom and institutional knowledge that can be so valuable.”
Another challenge was finding extra funding to hire a district manager and supplemental employees to instigate a better organization that could finish soil surveys for the county. An enormous task that enabled the district to expand to new things, which they did. Beginning in 1977, the district conducted the Pinelands Sands Water Survey to cover the rest of the county.
For years afterward, work continued normally for the district until the 2011 Minnesota government shutdown, leading to a 20-day closure of most government services beginning on July 1, 2011. This created a crisis for the Wadena SWCD district as invoices for the work being performed were not paid by the state, which led to staff layoffs.
“With all egos aside, we first tried to initiate a merge with Wadena County, but the employees didn’t like the concept, and there were some concerns that pocketbooks would not be separate, which is an aspect the board didn’t like either,” Tom explained. “So, I went to the East Otter Tail SWCD next, and we were able to create the joined relationship we exhibit today—a move that I’ve never regretted.”
The second, larger challenge Schulz has seen over the years has been the lack of resources to complete goals on both the state and federal side of the conservation world. In both offices, Schulz has witnessed local producers being sent home without funding—an issue that, thankfully, has had a turning point in recent years.
Though one of Schulz’s passions that has yet to receive additional resource funding is forestry.
“One third of Minnesota is forested, but there are no economic benefits for landowners implementing forestry practices until the first thinning. So, I would love to see a federal program allow a cash flow of some sort for those twenty-plus years while those trees are establishing and growing,” Schulz explained. “Currently, the only additional route available is planting a faster-growing tree such as Hybrid Poplar that can be harvested in about half the time, which I’m trying out. My first rotation harvest was successful, and I’m hoping to achieve my second rotation harvest, though in this instance, we’ve hedged our plan by planting white pines on every third row that will be harvested decades from now.”
Overall, it’s a change Schulz would like to see happen and is continuously leading other forest managers and voicing his thoughts in other board groups hoping a modification will be made soon.
The Next Step Forward
Looking back over the past 50 years, Schulz has witnessed many positive and negative changes throughout agriculture and conservation within Wadena County; however, his view on being involved with the Wadena SWCD hasn’t.
“As a landowner, you’re receiving expert-level technical assistance on any project when you walk through the door of any SWCD,” Schulz said. “Plus, the personal interaction along with an interest in wanting what is best for your land is the kind of ‘boots on the ground’ aid that is provided to everyone who works with us.”
As a board supervisor, Schulz mentioned how one is able to personally see what conservation can and will do to enable the environment to be more sustainable for all individuals and future generations.
However, those future generations will witness the Wadena SWCD board of supervisors without Tom Schulz present once his term is up in 2028, as he has decided not to run again. However, Schulz will still be present on the multiple other boards he is currently a part of—all dedicated to some aspect of agriculture or conservation—continuously advocating for each in hopes to bring upon necessary amendments to make both more balanced for years to come.
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