New Soil & Water board members spread the good dirt about soil health

The Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District has two newly-appointed board members since the state of New Mexico Soil and Water Conservation Commission convened on Jan. 28, 2025.

Local Magistrate Judge Pro Tempore Tina Garcia swore in Rodney Jones, from the Pueblo of Isleta, and Eugene Pickett, of Pueblitos, on Feb. 4, 2025.

When Steve Glass, the vice chairman of the Soil and Water Commission moved to appoint Rodney Jones to the board of the Valencia SWCD, he said he wanted to ensure that “Isleta would have a voice at the table. The commission should recognize the Valencia SWCD’s long tradition of reserving its appointed supervisor positions for members of the two Pueblos within its district boundaries,” especially because the lands of the Pueblo of Laguna and the Pueblo of Isleta “constitute more than 50 percent of the Valencia SWCD’s service area.”

Brian Jirón, who represents Valencia County on the board of directors of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and serves on the Tribal Council of the Pueblo of Isleta commented, “Valencia Soil and Water’s tradition was also a recognition of our being the original land stewards.”

Jones has dedicated his life to public service, including serving as a deputy sheriff of the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, police officer for the Los Lunas Police Department, chief judge for the Pueblo of Isleta and secretary of the Isleta Tribal Council.

Jones pledges to provide a continuation of dialogue about conservation with the Tribal Council and members of the Pueblo of Isleta. Back in November 2023, Jones co-hosted with Brian Jirón and former VSWCD board member Priscilla Abeita a “community conversation on soil and water conservation” at the Chical Reception Hall at the Pueblo of Isleta.

“We had at least a dozen people show up, including a former vice president of the Isleta Tribal Council, and no one knew about Valencia Soil and Water,” Jones said. “As I learn more about all the programs and services the VSWCD has to offer, I plan to get the word out. I am a doer.”

Last week, true to his word, Jones began circulating the news that he is “bringing soil scientists to Isleta for hands-on training.”

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 1, at 13 Tribal Road 28 in the Pueblo of Isleta, a Field Day on Soil Health will be offered by Valencia SWCD on land traditionally farmed by the Jones family. If using GPS, attendees should type in 13 Tribal Road 28 in Bosque Farms to be guided to the event.

A nationally-recognized soil health champion, Kirsten Couevas, will join VSWCD’s Environmental Education Program Manager Jeff Sanders at the three-acre Jones Farm, just north of Peralta Boulevard. Sanders will show how to take soil samples and assess the physical qualities of soil.

Samples will be evaluated by Ward Labs in Nebraska for pH, salinity, and content of nitrogen, phosphorous, carbon, and organic matter, and by Full Circle Soil Health locally to reveal the soil’s microbiologic content.

Couevas will bring her tractor and vertical tiller to provide minimal disturbance to the soil as she inoculates cover crop seed, providing a real-time example of the principles of regenerative agriculture and healthy soil.

“I spoke to my uncle about these practical, regenerative agriculture practices we will be highlighting at my farm,” reported Jones. “He was one of the folks that attended our meeting in Chical and he got really excited about it. I think this second event will have a multiplier effect within the Pueblo of Isleta.”

These outreach sessions on healthy soil strategies are made possible by grants to the Valencia SWCD from the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s New Mexico office and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Soil Program. At these events, the district also hopes to recruit soil health attendees for its paid apprenticeship program in soil health.

Training begins on March 21-22 at Whitfield Wildlife Conservation Area’s Visitor and Education Center, 2424 N.M. 47, north of Rio Communities. Apprentice technicians will learn to take soil samples and perform physical assessments of soil.

Valencia SWCD hopes that folks interested in regenerative agriculture will learn the good dirt about healthy soil at Saturday’s event at the Jones Farm in Isleta. Attendees can also sign up to have the soil of their small farm, backyard gardens, or rangeland tested for free.

Watch this space for more information on upcoming Valencia SWCD Field Days on soil health, including on March 15 at the farm of VSWCD’s other new board member, Eugene Pickett.

(Teresa de Cherif is chairwoman of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors.)