Engineer technician Lance Wheeler began work at the Rock County Land Management Office in late September and has tackled more than 100 applications for flood repairs and new conservation projects in Rock County.
A May graduate of the range sciences program at South Dakota State University in Brookings, Wheeler grew up in a rural neighborhood near Madison, South Dakota.
His love of the outdoors and interest in wildlife first led him to Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, South Dakota.
“I really like hunting and fishing,” Wheeler said. “I originally wanted to be a game warden.”
However, summer internships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed Wheeler that game wardens watch people more than they are able to hunt and fish.
The passion for wildlife conservation led Wheeler to SDSU for a four-year degree in the range sciences. He focused on one area within that major. “I really like the habitat and ecology side of that,” he said.
Wheeler and his wife, Tara, live in Pipestone.
In his new position, Wheeler will assist the LMO with the influx of soil conservation assistance and repair requests this year.
Heavy rains and flooding events of June 2014 eroded numerous waterways, basins and stream banks in area fields. More heavy rains earlier this year worsened the already damaged areas.
Assisting Wheeler is a new land survey tool which rapidly marks the elevation information for the construction or repair of terraces and waterways.
The tool uses global positioning to quickly calculate the needed elevation design numbers.
Previously, two people completed this surveying task, Wheeler said. He can complete the measurements with the new equipment in a matter of hours versus days with previous equipment.
Over the next three years, Rock County will receive $3 million in three grant phases to help producers repair existing conservation measures or to create new ones.
The grant will also fund Wheeler’s position that allows LMO staff to complete technical services in-house.
Also helping the LMO staff with the influx of requests is a recent contract agreement with Dakota Land Surveying & Engineering of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The company — with Steve Kor as the principal contact — will assist with topography surveys, project design and staking.
Producers are able to hire Dakota Land Surveying to complete the necessary specifications for LMO-funded projects.