Submitted by Benjamin T Turner on
Growing up on a farm in Claiborne County, Ronald Lambert had always heard that you couldn’t be both a farmer and a conservationist, but he was determined to find a way. Pursuing his goal, he first encountered Clinch-Powell as a volunteer at youth Conservation Camp. After volunteering for a couple years, he started part time with Clinch-Powell in the summer of 1996, which led to a full time Conservation Technician position through a partnership between CP and The Nature Conservancy later that year. Now a Land Protection Specialist under that same partnership, Ronald heads up the majority of Clinch-Powell’s land protection and conservation initiatives.
“Clinch-Powell gave me the opportunity to prove all the Nay Sayers wrong. For the past 23 years I have been allowed to teach many people (young and old) how to better conserve the land while increasing farm production.”
Most of Ronald’s time is spent writing and administering grant funds to provide cost-share assistance to landowners for agriculture best management practice installation and easement signups in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Over the years, he has secured over $6 million in direct funding for landowners, and another $10 million with the help of partner contributions. He’s helped landowners build more than one million feet of livestock fencing and protect more than 100,000 acres. He also continues to educate the public through field days and other special events, and through his work on developing Blueway Trails along the rivers.
Ronald believes the success of community improvement comes from the willingness to act rather than sit back and watch. He is always looking for volunteers to help with the Clinch and Powell Blueways and landowners to sign up for various cost-share programs. If you are interested, call our office!
