Meet the Douglas County Conservation District Supervisors

Our chairperson, Jordan Olsen, was elected to the District board in 2015. He was born and raised in a farming family in Burdett, Kansas, near Dodge City. After high school, Jordan attended Baker University in Baldwin City, where he earned a BS in Wildlife Biology. Since then, he has been employed in the agriculture insurance industry, but always keeps his passion for wildlife habitat improvement in front of mind! Jordan is married to Kalie (Harris) Olsen, a Baldwin City native. They have a two-yearold daughter, Natalie, and one more on the way!

Our Vice Chairperson, Lowell Neitzel was elected as a member of our Board in 2017. He grew up on 1,500-acre wheat, sunflower, and corn farm 10 miles from the Colorado border in Cheyenne County. He is now in a partnership with his wife’s family and is part of Bismarck Farms, which produces corn, soybeans and hay here in Douglas County.

Our Treasurer, John Bradley was elected in 2020. Dr. Bradley is a native of Lawrence, KS. He earned his doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University in 1987. He then completed formal smallanimal internship training at the University of Illinois. Dr. Bradley practiced in California and Virginia before coming back to Lawrence and taking over the family practice, Bradley Animal Hospital. His ranch in Douglas County prioritizes water quality, time management, and animal health.

David Brown, was elected to the board in 2015. He was born in Douglas County and raised on a farm in the Vinland area. After college, he returned to the farm, where he continues to raise crops and has a cow/calf operation. In addition to farming, David spent 32 years with the Sheriff’s Office retiring as a lieutenant in March of 2008. He and his wife Twila have two grown children that live in Douglas County. For years David has supported 4-H programs and helped with the fair. In his free time, he enjoys sports and the outdoors.

MacKenzie Flory is our newest board member elected in 2022. She was born and raised in rural Douglas County and grew up on a diversified row crop and cattle operation. After obtaining a degree in Agronomy and Animal Science from Iowa State University, she returned home to her family operation, May-Way Farms, Inc. She operates alongside her parents and brother where they continue to produce corn, soybeans, wheat and hay and run their purebred Angus cattle seedstock operation in southern Douglas County.

Effective supervisors are vital to conservation districts’ operations. They are our voice in the community as well as providing points of contact for county businesses and residents. They volunteer their time to attend monthly meetings, make themselves available for engagement at district events, and provide guidance and direction to district staff. District boards perform services vital to the effective operations of conservation districts.

What does native gardening mean and why is it important? Native plants are not only gorgeous in the preserved prairies and woodlands of Douglas County, but they are starting to make appearances in traditional gardens throughout the country. The definition of a native plant is outlined by the USDA as “adapted to the local climate and soil conditions where they naturally occur”. Native gardening then is just using native plants in landscaping. The practice of native gardening is important because it adds plant diversity in places that have lost or are rapidly losing biodiversity. This loss is happening across the country as more land is developed for housing and businesses and as farming practices change. Deciding to include native plants in your landscape is a positive change that anyone can make.

I’m Hannah Pippert, Wildlife Biologist working for Pheasants Forever in Kansas here in Douglas County. I’ve been here for close to a year and have been working in conservation in East/Central Kansas going on three years. These experiences have shaped the way I look at natural and cultivated green spaces. You will often find me standing in fields or in front of a garden attempting to identify plants I find interesting. My love for native plants began when I started to learn their names and continues to grow as I learn more about them.

I love looking at a collection of plants and seeing all of the ecosystem services that are being provided. Blooms covered in bees, butterflies, and beetles all summer mature into food for seed eaters as the days grow shorter. The same stems that supported those flowers become hollow and provide shelter for solitary bees and larvae over the winter. As the days grow longer, plants green up and the wildlife returns to our view.

Native plants provide food and shelter for all kinds of pollinators and birds. Bees, butterflies, beetles, and wasps all rely on pollen and nectar during the growing season (May-October in USDA Plant Zone 6) and use the plant material for shelter during the dormant season (November-April). This is one of the reasons that we ask people to leave the leaves and stems until spring when all of the beneficial bugs have had time to wake up and move out. Native plants support bird populations all year long as well. Baby birds get most of their nutrition from soft-bodied insects, which are often the larvae of pollinators. Seeds from plants like echinacea and sunflowers provide food for adult birds during the colder months.

If you are interested in native plant gardening but desire a more formal and structured garden, native plants chosen and placed strategically make beautiful gardens as formal or wild as you want. Listed below I’ve included some plants that do well in a garden setting and where they might be most appropriate.

Several species of native grasses stay below waist height and grow in a clump, making them nice anchors in a garden. Little bluestem, the tallest of the grasses I recommend, is a perennial and continues to get bigger each year. Some other perennial