Working alongside his father and uncle on their family farm in Meredosia, Nick Werries gained an appreciation for nature at an early age. He described his fond memories of riding in the tractor and helping his uncle plant apple and peach trees. He said, “I helped quite a bit with getting equipment ready for the next season and generally just helping with whatever needs to be done. Usually during harvest and planting season was when I was out there the most.”

In 2022, he received his bachelor ’s degree f rom the University of Illinois at Springfield with a double major in criminology and criminal justice and environmental studies. Shortly after graduating, he began working in ground remediation for Chase Environmental, cleaning up spills from underground fuel tanks around Springfield. In February of 2023, he joined the Conservation Capacity Building Initiative. Nick learned about the program from his father, who practices no-till and has CRP acreage.

Nick said that one of his favorite practices to work on is wildlife habitats, and he particularly enjoys seeing milkweed growing and birds flying around in these areas. Describing a recent site visit to one of these locations, he said, “I was visiting a wildlife habitat, and I was checking the plants, and I got scared by two deer that were just standing about 10 feet in front of me. They just jumped up and ran off!” When putting seed mixes together, he said that he needs to frequently consider which plants will work well with dogs, explaining that some have thorns that can get stuck in the dog’s paws and others are toxic to them. He said, “A lot of people around here have hunting dogs, so that’s a big thing people want- to make sure they will be OK. And sometimes they don’t even think of it- so we will ask- ‘hey, are you going to have your dogs out there?’ We always make sure about that.”

Pheasants Forever is one of the organizations their off ice works with on coordinating seed mixes, and Nick specifically works with Farm Bill Biologist Emilee Hale. He also works with her when he has a producer who needs a fire burn plan. He said, “She does the fire burns in Sangamon County. We can’t really do the f ire burn plans, and she’s really good. She will fill out the plans for all those producers.”

District Conservationist Andrew Fulton occasionally accompanies Nick on site visits. Describing their work with farmers, he said, “I would say the biggest success stories are someone having an idea and being able to see it through in a short period of time. They don’t lose sight of what they want that way.”

Andrew took over as the District Conservationist for Logan, Menard, and Sangamon Counties approximately two and a half years ago. Describing how he became interested in conservation, he said, “Our Resource Conservationist in Lincoln taught me how to survey in high school. He found a picture of it from 20-some years ago, teaching me as a high school student how to survey. That was kind of the beginning of it with Steve Bracey.”

Andrew said another organization they work with is the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC), and Land Conservation Specialist Cody Berry helps with some of the CRP and Wetland Reserve Easement Programs (WRP) plans in Sangamon County. Andrew appreciates the flexibility in the work that Nick can do as a Conservation Planner. He said, “A lot of off ices have a lot of different agreements, so it’s nice to have someone who can float in between and pick up slack with all of them.”

According to Andrew, they have held many different events to educate the public about their programs. He said, “We have tried doing things in machine sheds where one farmer invites the people in their circle. Sometimes the circle isn’t that big, which is fine. But the more you have—you don’t see the same faces at one event. It’s mostly geared around the Lake Springfield Watershed. We do them for lots of other things, but that’s what we have been focused on lately.”

Nick has also done a fair amount of outreach for AIM. Last spring, he helped facilitate a paint with soils display for 8th graders at the Career Spark STEAM Expo and spoke with the students about careers in conservation. During the Illinois State Fair, Nick spent quite a bit of time staff ing our AIM booth in the Illinois Department of Agriculture tent, which included a scavenger hunt activity for children, along with sharing information with the public about the Conservation Capacity Building Initiative.

As well as spending time outdoors, Nick said that seeing the plans get completed is very satisfying for him. He said, “I really like the planning aspect of it, and it’s just rewarding seeing everything come in on both ends too. I love conservation, and honestly- I don’t picture myself doing anything different. It’s limitless. As soon as you learn one thing, there’s something else here too.”

This article was originally published in the March 2025 Newsletter, which can be read here.