The Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC) has appointed a new Executive Director. Glen Shaw, of Moose Jaw SK, took the position at the beginning of January 2009 with SCCC, which has served as the face and voice of soil conservation in Canada since 1987.
“We are pleased to welcome Glen as the new Executive Director of SCCC,” says Newfoundland and Labrador producer Eugene Legge, President of SCCC.” Glen served on our Board of Directors and brings several decades as a soil conservationist and developer of programs dedicated to protecting Canada’s soil resources. Glen’s colleagues have grown to appreciate his strong leadership and management skills, coupled with a thorough but practical knowledge of farming systems and soil conservation practices.”
Shaw replaces outgoing Executive Director, Doug McKell, who stepped down from the position last year after seven years of service to SCCC. “Doug has worked tirelessly during his time as Executive Director to help drive understanding and awareness about the causes of soil degradation in Canada, a problem which is costing Canadians $2 billion per year. His work is greatly appreciated,” says Legge.
SCCC is a national, non-governmental independent organization that provides a non-partisan public forum to speak and act at the national level for soil conservation. It works with governments, private industry individuals, non-government organizations and other provincial groups to ensure that soil degradation is addressed.
Shaw began his career with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, later moved to Manitoba to work as a land use specialist and then worked as a Soil Conservationist with Manitoba Agriculture. In 1984 he joined the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) as a Senior Soil Conservationist in Saskatoon. Prior to his retirement in 2007, he also managed PFRA’s Northern Saskatchewan region and Soil Resource Division.
Since the mid 1980s, Shaw has played a key role in developing a number of soil conservation and agri-environmental programs including Save Our Soils, Permanent Cover Program, Green Plan, and the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program. “These programs contribute to significant adoption of practices such as direct seeding, conversion of marginal annual cropland to perennial cover, and improved grazing management,” says Legge.
In addition to his role as an SCCC board member, Shaw has also worked closely with groups such as Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers and the Saskatchewan Forage Council, to help them secure federal funding to deliver demonstration and extension programs to producers. One of his later achievements was to lead a national working group that selected beneficial management practices that would later be funded across Canada through the National Farm Stewardship Program.
“Farmers have done an amazing job over the past 30 years developing innovative soil management and conservation practices to protect and improve the soil resource,” says Shaw. “However, we cannot become complacent in thinking soil degradation is under control. The SCCC will continue to be a strong voice in the promotion of soil conservation practices and to work with provincial soil conservation organizations to address growing challenges related to soil degradation, climate change and water quality.”
More information on the Soil Conservation Council of Canada is available on the SCCC website at www.soilcc.ca.
