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This time of year provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the months behind us and all we have accomplished collectively. What a year we have had! Thank you for your continued dedication and collaboration to support Oregon's farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners and deliver on-the-ground conservation solutions.
The holidays always remind me of the importance of Oregon's producers, as most of us have traditions centered around food. Every year, my family breaks bread together after spending quality time making holiday meals and baked goods. I hope you too enjoy your favorite foods with loved ones in the holiday season ahead.
I am incredibly proud of our collective accomplishments and the quantifiable differences we make together across Oregon's landscape. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to our work together in the year ahead.
- Ron Alvarado, NRCS Oregon State Conservationist
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will use the investments provided through Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funded conservation programs to support farmers and ranchers in adopting and expanding climate-smart activities and systems. NRCS asks for comments on how to target program benefits, quantify impact, and improve program delivery and outreach, especially for underserved producers. Comments are due Dec. 21, 2022.
Submit public comments on the Federal Register notice. If you have questions, contact NRCS.IRA.Input@usda.gov.
Fiscal year 2022 (FY22) marks another successful year supporting Oregon’s farmers, ranchers and private forestland owners through Oregon’s Strategic Approach to Conservation. This locally-led business model is the keystone of every conservation success in Oregon, all of which are grounded in strong partnerships, long-range planning and continuous collaboration.
Read more about the successes we’ve achieved in FY22 in this annual report. View it here.
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 Ron Alvarado is NRCS Oregon's State Conservationist. Ron is a USMC veteran with over 30 years of government service, 29 of which have been with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 2008, he became Oregon’s State Conservationist. Prior to this current position, he served two and a half years as the New York State Conservationist.
Ron began his NRCS career as a student trainee while attending New Mexico State University. After graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture/Agronomy and a minor in Soil Science, he followed a traditional NRCS career path. He started in a field office as a Soil Conservationist, then as a District Conservationist in Arizona before serving as an Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations and Assistant State Conservationist for Operations in Oregon.
Ron has formally and informally mentored numerous employees and served on multiple details acting in the following capacities: team member for reestablishing Conservation Boot Camp (2003) during which he coordinated two 6-week camps; acting Director of Ecological Sciences Division (2008); acting Deputy Chief for Landscape Planning and Easements (2009); acting Associate Deputy Chief for Management (2010); acting Deputy Chief for Management (2011); and acting Deputy Chief for Science and Technology (2016).
Ron served on the Chief’s Advisory Committee (2010-2015) and the State Conservationist Administrative Transformation Committee (2013-2016). He co-chaired the Advisory Committee under the Advisory and Accountability Framework for Administrative Services (2013-2016). He served as the acting Deputy Chief for Management and Strategy—a newly established deputy area (2019). Most recently, Ron served as the acting Associate Chief (2020).
Ron was born and raised on a small farm north of Las Cruces, New Mexico where his family grew pecans, alfalfa, and various vegetables, particularly red and green chile peppers for the farmer’s market. These days, Ron loves to spend time with his family, exercise, remodel and renovate homes, work on old cars, read and listen to music. Most recently, he achieved a long-term goal and purchased a 64-acre farm.
Contact: Ronald.Alvarado@usda.gov | 503-414-3201
 Jason Jeans is the Assistant State Conservationist for Management and Strategy based out of the State Office in Portland. Jason manages 5 staff members covering Contracts/Grants & Agreements, HR, Finance, Operations, Property, and other various Administrative activities. The M&S staff supports the field in a variety of ways to ensure NRCS Oregon is delivering our mission across the landscape.
Jason has worked with NRCS for 13 years in a variety of roles within the administration field. He graduated from Portland State University's Business Administration program and has called the PNW home for most of his life. Jason is a veteran and previously spent time working for small businesses and the State of Oregon.
Contact: Jason.Jeans@usda.gov | 503-414-3222
Cory Owens is the Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships based out of the State Office in Portland. Cory’s focus is the interface between the NRCS Oregon mission and the missions of all the stellar conservation organizations and agencies working across the state and region. She believes in finding ways to leverage a diversity of resources to work together for on-the-ground success. Cory is backed by a strong public affairs team comprised of four members, which makes NRCS a key player in telling Oregon’s conservation story to audiences near and far.
Cory’s previous 22 years with the agency were spent as a field soil scientist making soil maps, a resource that helps folks understand and use soils information, and as the state soil scientist in charge of delivering technical soil services across the state. She is a graduate of Oregon State University with a BS degree in Crop and Soil Science and holds an MS degree in Soil Science from the University of California, Davis. Cory has lived all over the great state of Oregon, primarily in the Willamette Valley where she was raised.
Contact: Cory.Owens@usda.gov | 503-414-3261
 Scott Oviatt is the Snow Survey Supervisory Hydrologist based out of the State Office in Portland. He manages a staff of 7 hydrologists and hydrologic technicians in the installation, operation, and maintenance of over 200 mountain snow and hydrological monitoring station across Oregon, Washington, and a small part of Northern California. The data from these stations provides the information on the Oregon NRCS Snow Survey web pages and are included in various reports and products.
Scott graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. Agriculture, Atmospheric Scientist. Upon graduation, he worked for 3 different consulting firms as a consulting meteorologist in the western U.S. Scott has worked for the USDA since 1999, first with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service as a Physical Scientist (1999-2005) in Pendleton, Oregon, then with NRCS from 2005 to 2014 in Bozeman, Montana. Since November 2014, Scott has been the Snow Survey Supervisory Hydrologist and Program Manager with the NRCS Oregon State Office.
Scott works with NRCS staff, partners, stakeholders, and various federal, local, and state agencies to assist in identifying water supply and drought issues, and to work on solutions that benefit agricultural operations with a goal toward long-term sustainability in a water-supply challenged environment.
Scott will be retiring January 13, 2023. We will miss having him on our team and wish him the best in retirement!
Contact: Scott.Oviatt@usda.gov | 503-414-3271
Molly Dawson is the State Conservation Engineer based out of the State Office in Portland. She supervises 6 engineering and geology staff members. Molly has a Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia and was able to attend Oregon State University during her junior year of college. She is a licensed PE in Washington and Oregon.
Molly has been with NRCS for 18 years. Prior to coming to Oregon, she worked as the Assistant State Engineer in Georgia for 4 years and prior to that worked in Western Washington for 11.5 years as a Field Engineer and Area Engineer. Much of her NRCS career has been spent working on water resource related projects including stream and wetland restoration, aquatic organism passage projects, water quality improvement projects and irrigation projects. She also has experience working with AFO/CAFO and grazing operations.
Originally from the Olympia, WA area, she grew up in SE Georgia and would spend summers on the Olympic Peninsula and in Chelan, WA. After college, she moved to Port Angeles, WA where she worked for the local Conservation District for a year before joining NRCS through the recent graduate program.
Contact: Molly.Dawson@usda.gov | 503-414-3234
Gary Diridoni is the ASTC for Watershed Resources based out of the State Office in Portland. He's been with NRCS since October 2016, previously working in Environmental Compliance before starting in his current role July 2020. Prior to NRCS, Gary worked in Redding, CA for 11 years as a Fish and Wildlife Biologist for BLM.
Gary graduated from Humboldt State University with a double major B.S. Wildlife Management & Interdisciplinary Studies and a minor in Ecosystem Conservation. He also completed Oregon State University's Fisheries Management Graduate Certificate Program with a graduate project focused on controlling aquatic invasive species through pathway disruption.
Contact: Gary.Diridoni@usda.gov | 503-414-3092
Heather Medina Sauceda is the Basin Team Leader for the Central Coast / Upper Willamette and South West Basins which covers nine counties. Her office is in the Tangent USDA Service Center. The team that Heather works with is a staff of sixteen.
Heather was born and raised in Michigan. She has worked with NRCS for 23 years, working previously as an earth team volunteer, student trainee, soil conservationist and a district conservationist in several locations in Michigan. She has also acted in roles with the Oregon State Office as Acting Assistant State Conservation for Programs, and acting in Florida as Assistant State Conservationist for Management and Strategy.
Heather graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelors in Zoology – Environmental Biology. She is a returned peace corps volunteer who served in the Dominican Republic. Heather and her family call Albany home.
Contact: Heather.Medina@usda.gov | 541-801-2663
Leo Preston is the Basin Team Leader for the Lower Willamette and North Coast Basins and is based out of the McMinnville USDA Service Center. He provides support and oversight for the Basin Team located in seven NRCS Field Offices that serve nine counties and ten SWCDs in Northwest Oregon. His basin is known for its vast diversity of agricultural enterprises and the unique challenges of the urban/agriculture interface in large metropolitan areas.
Leo comes from a farm background in the Midwest and is a graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Education and Agronomy. He has been with the NRCS/SCS for 39 years, during which time he has served as Soil Conservationist and District Conservationist in several locations in Iowa. He also served as Resource Conservation & Development Coordinator in the U.S. Virgin Islands before coming to Oregon in 2000.
Contact: Leo.Preston@usda.gov | 503-376-7613
Jay Gibbs is the Basin Team Leader for the John Day/Umatilla and Snake River Basins and is based out of the Heppner USDA Service Center. He supervises 46 full time staff members covering 9 counties. Jay graduated from Oregon State University in Agricultural Science with a minor in Rangeland Resources.
Jay has worked with NRCS for 35 years, working previously as a Soil Conservationist and a District Conservationist. He has also acted in several roles with the State Office as Acting STC, and acting roles with Management & Strategy, State Resource Conservationist, and Field Operations. Jay was born and raised in Oregon.
Contact: Jay.Gibbs@usda.gov | 541-980-7885
Damon Brosnan is the Basin Team Leader for the Deschutes/High Desert Basins and is based out of the Redmond USDA Service Center.
Damon has been with NRCS for 17 years, most recently working as a District Conservationist in Gilliam and Wheeler counties. He grew up in Oregon with roots in Heppner where his family homesteaded a ranch in 1868. Prior to working with NRCS, he managed a large cow/calf operation that ran 1200 pair and summered between 2,000-3,000 yearlings. Damon grew up working on his family's ranch during school vacations, worked on a ranch in LaPine and Silver Lake during college and for a couple of years afterward, and managed a ranch in the Heppner area for 15 years.
Damon started at NRCS as a term employee hired during the 2005 CSP signup, and was later hired on full time as a soil conservationist in Condon. In 2007, he became the Wheeler County district conservationist, and in 2015 the DC for Gilliam County as well.
Contact: Damon.Brosnan@usda.gov | 541-384-2671 ext. 107
 Erin Kaczmarczyk is the new Assistant State Conservationist for Programs, based out of the state office in Portland.
Erin has worked with NRCS for over 14 years, most recently spending the last 8 years as a District Conservationist in Ephrata, Washington. During her time with NRCS, she's worked with just about every land use including organic farms, horticulture, cropland, hayland, some range and forestry, dryland wheat and other land uses throughout central Washington. She managed 10 Agricultural Conservation Easement Program easements, worked a lot with CRP, HELC, and some ECP. Her passion starting out was beneficial insectaries and soon transitioned to all things soil health including reduced tillage, crop rotation and cover crops.
Previous to NRCS, she worked as a DoD civilian employee in Rota, Spain where she was the lead for natural and cultural resources for the Naval Base and started the Bird Aircraft Safety Hazard (BASH) program for the air strip. She returned stateside and worked construction for a Cellular Tower installer and then worked with the Okanogan Conservation District for nearly 4 years. In her free time, she loves to fish, hunt, garden, preserve food and spend time with her family and their extracurricular activities.
Contact: Erin.Kaczmarczyk@usda.gov | 503-414-3219
 Amy Hendershot is the new State Resource Conservationist based out of the state office in Portland. She will be joining the team officially in March.
She has spent 14 years working with NRCS, most recently acting as a national urban conservationist on a detail to help stand up USDA’s new Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. Outside of her detail, Amy spent the last 8 years as a District Conservationist in the south Puget Sound area, overseeing 4 field offices in 5 counties.
She previously worked as an NRCS Soil Conservationist, Resource Conservationist, at North Central Washington and WSU Puyallup Research Extension Center.
Amy grew up in Tacoma and has spent her whole career so far in Washington. In her free time, she enjoys backpacking, gardening, and exploring the great outdoors.
Kacee Lathrop is currently acting as State Resource Conservationist before Amy starts.
Contact: Amy.Hendershot@usda.gov
 Jericho Winter is the State Soil Scientist, based out of the State Office in Portland.
Jericho provides leadership for developing, managing, and directing a comprehensive and integrated technical soil services programs for the state and serves as a liaison with National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) cooperators. She supervises a wide range of staff including the State GIS Coordinator, Cartographer, three Resource Soil Scientist positions and the Plant Materials Center Manager in Corvallis.
Jericho has worked for Oregon NRCS for 13 years, first starting as an MLRA Soil Scientist where she mapped soils in the high desert of Central Oregon, the Winema National Forest in Southern Oregon and the Willamette National Forest in Western Oregon. She eventually took a position as a Resource Soil Scientist providing technical soil services and focusing on Food Security Act wetland and HEL compliance at a regional level, and later, statewide. She joined the Oregon Leadership Team as the State Soil Scientist in the summer of 2021. Jericho is originally from Illinois and she earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Geography with an emphasis in Soil Science from Northern Illinois University.
Contact: Jericho.Winter@usda.gov | 503-414-3231
Jessica Bras is the Executive Assistant to the State Conservationist based out of the State Office. She's been with NRCS for 6 years, working as an Executive Assistant and an Admin Assistant to ASTC - Management & Strategy. She started her federal career with the DoD as a Staff Administrative Assistant in Helena, MT.
Jessica acts as the "gatekeeper" to the STC and keeps NRCS Oregon organized and running smoothly. She manages the STC's calendar, organizes meetings, manages travel, is the master timekeeper for the state, gets documents routed and signed, and manages a whole host of other tasks key to NRCS Oregon's organizational success.
In 2000, Jessica joined the U.S. Army Reserves. She holds 2 Military Occupational Specialties - a Senior Intelligence Analyst and a Senior Human Resources Non-commissioned Officer, and has 3 state-side mobilizations and two two-year deployments to Iraq under her belt. She has an Associate's degree in Applied Sciences and military certifications in Master Resiliency Training Instructor, Equal Opportunity Leader, Anti-Terrorism Officer/Active Shooter Trainer, Operational Security Officer and CPR.
Contact: Jessica.Bras@usda.gov | 503-414-3221
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