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Tyson named Effingham County conservationist of the year
0217 conservationist of the year
Joining Bill Tyson as he is named Effingham County conservationst of the year for the Ogeechee River Soil and Water Conservation District are Beth Epling, Kim Tyson and Bart Waller. In front are the Tysons children, Gunnar, Turner and Konner. - photo by Photo provided

Bill Tyson is the Ogeechee River Soil and Water Conservation District Conservationist of the Year in Soil and Water from Effingham County.

The Ogeechee River SWCD, which is made up of Bulloch, Candler, Effingham, Evans, Screven and Tattnall Counties, hosted the 61st annual awards banquet to recognize an individual that has made an outstanding contribution to soil and water conservation. In an effort to protect our natural resources the District encourages landowners to use conservation tillage as a cropping system, to install terraces and grassed waterways to reduce soil erosion and plantings of grass or trees on highly erosional land to help protect our streams.

Tyson, the recipient of the prestigious Conservationist of the Year Award in Effingham County, graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in 1989 with an Associate degree in Science. He then enrolled at the University of Georgia where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and in 2008 he received a Master of Education degree also from the University of Georgia.
From 1994-99 Tyson was the county extension agent in Bulloch County. He has served as the extension agent in Effingham County since 1999 until the present.

As an extension agent for the past 17 years, Tyson has had many opportunities to assist agriculture producers. He is an advocate of conservation practices and encourages farmers to use these practices in order to protect our natural resources.

Tyson has received numerous awards during his career.  A few of these are:  first place for his Applied Research Presentation to the Georgia Association of County Agricultural Agents, Distinguished Service Award-National Association of County Agricultural Agents, Georgia Extension Association Family and Consumer Sciences-Environmental Education Award, Green Industry Education Award-Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association, and the Young Professional Award-Georgia Association of County Agricultural Agents.

Tyson also is involved with many associations and serves on several committees such as the National Association of County Agricultural Agents, the Georgia Association of County Agricultural Agents, the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce, the Effingham County Fair Committee, the Effingham County FSA Review and Emergency Board, the Georgia-Pacific Savannah Mill Community Advisory Panel and the Southeast Climate Consortium.

Bill and his wife Kim reside in Rincon with their three sons, Turner, Gunnar and Konner.

They are members of the Springfield United Methodist Church.

Beth Lowery Epling, education coordinator for the New Ebenezer Retreat and Conference Center, presented Tyson with the Conservationist of the Year Award on behalf of the Ogeechee River Soil and Water Conservation District.

Effingham County Supervisor Bart Waller, NRCS District Conservationist Austin Blackburn and NRCS Soil Conservationist Phil Hall agreed that Bill Tyson was an excellent choice for this award.