NRCS Honors Volunteer for 60 Years of Service

  Lawrence County District Conservationist Britt Morrison says that, in their office, they always joke that they’re convinced that former NRCS employee and current Earth Team volunteer, Doris Williams, must have found the Fountain of Youth during one of his watershed surveys. 

     With an abundance of energy and no plans to quit volunteering anytime soon, Williams hasn’t convinced anyone otherwise. 

     His 60-year tenure with NRCS began in March of 1965 when he started working on the construction inspection survey team as an Engineering Technician and then as a Civil Engineering Technician. In 1974, he got promoted to Construction Inspector, and, by 1990, he was promoted again to Supervisor Construction Inspector and Soil Conservation Technician until 2011 when he first retired. During his time on the team, Williams was an essential contributor to numerous Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) projects and PL-566 Watershed Program projects in almost every county in the state. Many of the recreational projects that Arkansans know and love today were PL-566 projects that Williams’s team turned over to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission or Arkansas State Parks upon completion.      Since 2011, Williams has been a part time Earth Team volunteer and part-time Advanced Technical Assistance Program district employee in Walnut Ridge, helping with watershed contracts and running operations and management on channels in Randolph and Lawrence counties. 

     Raised on a farm in Randolph County, Williams said he loves being outdoors and never minded all the “dirty work” of surveying rivers, creeks, and watersheds.  

     In fact, when asked about the details of his impressive career with NRCS, he brushed over the 34 watersheds projects and 336 miles of channels he helped implement or maintain, or the 5,200 hours of volunteer work he’s put in. But his eyes lit up and he cracked a smile when he told of the many memories of his time in the field or in the office with his survey crew and other co-workers. One such memory made him chuckle as he recalled the time he spotted a “bear” while surveying, which sent him running away until he realized the “bear” he’d seen had a bright blue zipper on its back. He turned to find his survey crew in a laughing fit. The bear suit, crafted by his survey teammate, was just one of the many pranks that kept Williams on his toes throughout his tenure.  

     “It’s been fun. And it’s passed by fast,” Williams said. “But there’s not a question in my mind that I’ll keep volunteering as long as I can. I feel better than ever, and these people here are my family.” 

     The community and camaraderie that Williams has built throughout his time with NRCS are foundational to his career successes, but more importantly they are an example of what our agency’s mission is rooted in. 

     “He has a long and storied career with NRCS,” Morrison states. “And I’d be afraid to guess how many people Doris has impacted for the better. The monetary value calculation of the body of work Doris has completed over his career would be impossible to calculate in today’s dollar amounts. But the value to the state of Arkansas in flood prevention or protection of private property, state and county roads, and recreational opportunities would be priceless.”