Longtime Wichita County Farm Bureau member and leader Barry Mahler has been elected vice chairman of the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB).
Mahler of Iowa Park has been a member of the TSSWCB since May 2007. He is a cotton and wheat farmer, and he serves Precinct 3 on the Wichita County Commissioners Court. Mahler also contributes as a reporter for Farm Bureau Roundup, Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network’s weekly program.
Mahler has been a district director on the Wichita Soil and Water Conservation District for the past 34 years.
“I’ve seen the tremendous difference it makes when a soil and water conservation district gets involved with local landowners. We are not a regulatory agency. We work hand-in-hand with them on a voluntary basis to help them protect their natural resources, mainly the soil and the water,” Mahler said in an interview with the TFB Radio Network. “I’ve seen that work for all those years, and I realized the mission is very, very important. So, when I got an opportunity to step and serve at the state level, I was certainly excited to do that, and I continue to be excited. I love the mission.”
Mahler has previously served as president of the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts and a former alternate director of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) board of directors.
Mahler serves on the TSSWCB with Chairman Jose Dodier of Zapata, Scott Buckles of Stratford, Marty H. Graham of Rocksprings, Jerry D. Nichols of Nacogdoches, Larry D. Jacobs of Montgomery and Joe L. Ward of Telephone. The board acts for the agency on matters relating to the state Legislature and Texas landowners.
The TSSWCB consists of five elected members and two governor-appointed members who must be actively engaged in farming or ranching. The five members are chosen in a convention-type election by Soil and Water Conservation District directors in the state district in which the TSSWCB member resides.