Meet Your Community: Thomas E. Van Wagner

om Van Wagner lived much of his early life in the Novi area where he was involved in sports and worked on a truck farm. From there he went to Michigan Tech. University where he earned a degree in forestry and wildlife management in 1975. He then began working for the Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS), first in Houghton, then Antrim County and St. Johns. He joined the Lenawee County office of the NRCS in 1981 and continues to find the work rewarding.

In Southeast Michigan Tom has worked primarily to solve resource management problems on farms through conservation planning. Tom has a passion for agriculture and enjoys working with farmers to implement successful agricultural practices on area farms. Over the years Tom has helped install many conservation projects including drainage, no-till farming, livestock waste management, wetland restorations, grass waterways, erosion control structures, field windbreaks and conservation buffers.

“Coming to Lenawee County as a District Conservationist was a great honor in 1981,” says Tom. At that time, Lenawee County was a state leader in many agricultural commodities and is still number one in corn and number two in soybean production. The diversity of the agricultural landscape, from flat lakebed soils to rolling glaciated moraines, provides Tom with a variety of work that is second to none in the state.

Tom has seen the landscape change since 1981, when few considered that our farmland would be subject to poor land use planning; when we thought sprawl was something to be found elsewhere. Over the years Tom has learned much from the agricultural community. He believes in the following principles:

Agriculture needs to be economically viable

Farmers are the original stewards of the soil; much can be learned from them

Preserving open space and farmland requires everyone to work together

Regional land use planning needs to be applied at the site specific level to address resource issues such as farmland preservation, water quality and storm water management

Property owners have rights

No one has the right to cause resource problems off site

Developers must address resource concerns and issues in their site plans

Science provides an excellent basis for resource planning

Local governments need to endorse and implement good land use planning principles

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Design by Kenny King.