TEMPLE - José O. Dodier Jr. of Zapata, Scott Buckles of Stratford, and Barry Mahler of Iowa Park were all re-elected May 5, 2015 to serve a two-year term on the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board(TSSWCB).
Dodier represents TSSWCB State District Three, which consists of 50 counties in the Gulf Coast and South Texas Plains region of the state. District Three encompasses 46 soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs).
Prior to his service on the TSSWCB, Dodier served three years as president of the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts and as an Immediate Past President for three years. He is Chairman of the Zapata SWCD and has been a member of the Zapata SWCD for 24 years.
Dodier, who has been a Member of the TSSWCB since May 2005, is a partner in the Don Jose Land & Cattle Company in Zapata County in which the Dodier family has been operating for 81 years. The ranching enterprise is a cow-calf and wildlife management operation near Zapata.
Dodier is also a member on the Board of Directors of the South Texas Workforce Solutions. Workforce Solutions for South Texas is a local organization that implements a system of services to increase community economic development in Jim Hogg, Webb, and Zapata Counties.
At the national level, Dodier is a former member of the board of directors of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) where he served for eight years as well as having served on the NACD Executive Board.
Buckles represent State District One, which consists of 51 counties in the Panhandle and south plains region of Texas. District One encompasses 49 soil and water conservation districts.
Buckles has been a Member of the TSSWCB since May 2011 and is the managing partner of Buckles Farms Partnership located in Sherman County. The family operation has been in business since 1917 and currently produces corn, grain, sorghum, wheat, and cattle. Buckles is also involved in other retail businesses including crop and aerial spraying.
In other conservation capacities, Buckles has served 20 years on the board of directors of the Sherman County Soil and Water Conservation District headquartered in Stratford. In addition to serving on his local SWCD board, Buckles served on the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts board of directors. In the statewide organization he has served as vice-president and as president. Buckles is also a past president of the Panhandle Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
Mahler represents TSSWCB State District Five, which consists of 51 counties in the North and Central Texas region of the state. District Five encompasses 41 soil and water conservation districts.
Mahler, who has been a Member of the TSSWCB since May 2007, is an Iowa Park businessman and cotton and wheat farmer. Mahler also serves Precinct 3 on the Wichita County Commissioners’ Court and is a reporter for Farm Bureau Roundup, a weekly farm radio program produced by the Texas Farm Bureau.
Mahler has been a director of the Wichita Soil and Water Conservation District for the last 34 years. He is also a past president of the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts and a former alternate director of the National Association of Conservation Districts Board of Directors.
The TSSWCB board of directors is comprised of five elected Members and two Governor appointees. The five TSSWCB Members are elected in a convention style election by SWCD directors in the State District in which the TSSWCB Member represents.