VERNON COUNTY, Wis. – Vernon County announced last week that they have hired David Hettenbach as the new county conservationist. Hettenbach was hired after a search that had 21 applicants to fill a position that was open following the resignation of previous County Conservationist Ben Wojahn. Hettenbach was one of three finalists interviewed for the position.
Hettenbach currently serves as an Inspection Department Manager for Nature’s International Certification Services (NICS). Hettenbach said he grew up outside of Madison, where his parents still live, and came to Vernon county about 9.5 years ago by way of California where he spent 1.5 years working in organic certification after graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in agronomy and natural resources. Hettenbach said he came to Vernon County when he was offered his current position at NICS.
“My first involvement with agriculture was when I started working on a farm at 18 years old and I’ve been involved with agriculture ever since,” said Hettenbach. “Today I live on a farm west of Viroqua with my wife and two dogs where we rent a farmhouse from family friends. We enjoy being as self sufficient as possible and in the growing season raise much of our own food and keep laying hens, meat birds, and pigs as well as growing a number of cut flowers.”
Hettenbach said he is also involved with the Viroqua Youth Hockey Association and a coach for the Viroqua boys high school hockey team.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to work with and for a wide variety of stakeholders in the county to continue a lot of the great conservation practices that are already taking place today and get started on some new projects that will help to better this beautiful place we live in,” said Hettenbach. “The people I have met in my almost 10 years here in Vernon County and the chance to work with a wider variety of stakeholders is what led me to apply for the conservationist position. Since the day I arrived here I’ve been welcomed by all and it’s something I’m grateful for. I see my role at the county as one where I’m working for everyone that lives here and am really looking forward to getting out and hearing different perspectives and ideas to help understand how I can best serve our community. Flood control and larger precipitation events and the challenges they present are a couple big ticket items that I believe will continue to require a lot of hard work in the coming years but I’m looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work on these and other issues in the near future.”
Hettenbach replaces Wojahn, who technically resigned but appeared at a Vernon County Board of Supervisors meeting following his resignation and made a public statement that he was forced to resign when presented with an ultimatum. Wojahn said he was given a list of accusations and told he could either resign or be terminated, and he chose to resign. You can read our previous story about that resignation here.
Wojahn had been the county conservationist in charge of the land and water conservation department since 2009. Among other things the department oversees the administration of conservation programs, oversees the county parks as well as the counties 23 PL 566 flood control structures. Wojahn told the board in his comments that the accusations leveled against him were unfounded and asked that the county look into how his employment was handled.
Wojahn did attend the later meetings of the Conservation and Education Committee that oversaw his department but did not make any other public comments. Two people did speak on his behalf at that meeting and voiced their support of Wojhan’s work, and asked the county to look into the circumstances of the resignation.
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