Texas Forest Service Leadership Program Helps Develop Partnerships

Photo: Members of the current Texas A&M Forest Service Leadership Enrichment Program and their instructors joined the Hays County Commissioners Court on September 13 during program’s tour of the Central Texas area. Left to right, front row: Senior Staff Forester Clay Bales, Jordy Herrin, Steven Carter, and Program Director John Wegenhoft; on dais: County Judge Bert Cobb, M.D., Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones, Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe, Jason Ellis, Justin Kendall, Jared Karns, Matthew Schlaefer, Gretchen Riley, Kari Hines, Central & West Texas Department Head Jim Rooni, Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley and Precinct 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant.

Hays County, TX – The Texas A&M Forest Service presented its Leadership Enrichment Program class to the Hays County Commissioners Court on September 13. The 18-month program helps Forest Service employees learn about the challenges facing its leadership throughout the state and how to best develop partnerships with local governments as it continues its mission of conservation and protection of natural resources. 

The Court thanked the Forest Service for the assistance and guidance it provided to Hays County following the devastation along the Blanco River from the Memorial Weekend 2015 flood. Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley estimated that some 70 to 80 percent of the riverbank landscape was damaged or destroyed by the flood and that Forest Service expertise in how to repair that damage was of great value to the short- and long-term recovery of the area. For more information about the Forest Service, visit http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/.