After 10 years of serving as a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist in the Walpole field office, Steve Pytlik is leaving NRCS to join the US Forest Service in Rutland Vermont as a Recreational planner. The move will allow Steve to remain closer to his home in Vermont, give him more time with his family, and surely bring new and exciting experiences.
NRCS & CCCD staff will miss Steve’s leadership and dedication to conservation. Steve is a well-rounded planner with experience in barnyard and manure handling systems, cropland and ecological and forestry systems. He retained his role as conservation planner in addition to his DC responsibilities and was responsible for implementing some of the highest impact conservation projects in Cheshire and Sullivan county over the last decade. Most notable of these are three dam removals that restored fish passage, floodplains and native streambank vegetation to impounded blocked stream systems restoring miles of stream ecosystems. Steve also advocated for soil health and worked with farmers to plant cover crops to reduce soil erosion and sediment runoff from hundreds of acres of cornland along the Connecticut River.
Steve worked with many partner organizations over his 10 years with NRCS to get conservation on the ground. His contributions include working hand in hand with the Cheshire and Sullivan County Conservation Districts. Steve is an exemplary partner who helped the Districts identify conservation priorities and focus funding on where it could be most impactful.
We will miss Steve’s leadership and dedication to conservation in southwest New Hampshire. Please join us as we all wish him well with his new position! Good luck Steve!
Written by: Walpole NRCS & CCCD staff