The 2025 conservationist of the year is Jeff Basford of Kasson, MN. Jeff has been enrolling land into the Conservation Reserve Program for almost 40 years. The second photo highlights a field enrolled in CRP next to a wildlife tree planting. He currently has about 130 acres of land in CRP. Over the last four decades, Basford has implemented strip-tillage, grassed waterways, wildlife ponds, riparian buffers, wildlife habitat, and numerous tree plantings. Jeff’s focus on improving his land and his desire to leave it better than he found it are reasons he was nominated to be the 2025 Dodge SWCD Outstanding Conservationist of the Year.