Ronald "Ron" Joseph Oral History Transcript

Ron describes moving to the Maine Field Office when it opened to work on the 1985 Farm Bill. He discusses working on Farmers Home Administration conservation easement conservation easement
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or qualified conservation organization that restricts the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future. Conservation easements aim to protect habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife by limiting residential, industrial or commercial development. Contracts may prohibit alteration of the natural topography, conversion of native grassland to cropland, drainage of wetland and establishment of game farms. Easement land remains in private ownership.

Learn more about conservation easement reviews, Swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program. Ron describes knocking on doors to generate participation in the private lands habitat restoration program and he describes several of the projects he was involved in throughout the state of Maine. He describes working with staff from Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, his federal counterparts at the Farmers Home Administration/Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, his state counterparts at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, conservation partners at Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy, and also working with tribal members from the Penobscot Tribe and the Houlton Band of Maliseets and Micmacs.