Roger Bowman, 2021 NACD SE Hall of Fame Inductee
August 9, 2021, Gulf Shores, Alabama— Roger Bowman of Catoosa County was inducted into the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Southeast Region Hall of Fame at their Annual Meeting in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
The Southeast Region Conservation Hall of Fame annually recognizes and honors individuals from the Southeast Region of the United States who have had a significant impact or influence on natural resources conservation practice or partnerships at the local, state, territory, regional or national levels.
Bowman has been a District Supervisor for the Catoosa County Conservation District since 2000 and has served as Chair for 18 years. He has been a Board Member of the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts (GACD) for 11 years, currently serving as Vice- President. He was inducted into the GACD Hall of Fame in 2018. His father, Roger Bowman, Sr. was a founding member of the Catoosa County Conservation District and is also a member of GACD’s Hall of Fame.
Danny Hogan, NACD Representative for Georgia, congratulated Roger on this honor and recognition noting, "GACD would not be where we are today without Roger’s hard work. I could not say enough, nor could we honor him enough for what he has meant to GACD. We will continue to rely on his knowledge and expertise in years to come."
Roger grew up as the third generation on Sunrise Farm, a 350-acre farm in Catoosa County. The Bowman’s produced vegetables and marketed them to wholesalers in Atlanta, GA and Chattanooga, TN. By the late 1950s, they added a 500 head “farrow to finish” commercial swine operation. Growing up, Roger was involved in 4-H where he focused on row crops, forestry, livestock production and land judging.
Helping his father install terraces and retention ponds on their ridgeland farm and maintain drainage systems on their bottomland farm, Roger had an early firsthand education on contemporary conservation practices. While in high school he worked as summer intern with the local Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service) technician doing survey work and cropland measurement. This, along with his participation in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Natural Resources Conservation Program solidified his interest in natural resource conservation.
Roger graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Economics and began working in sales for an industrial company in Nashville, Tennessee serving the mining, construction, and forestry industries. During this time Roger completed his Masters of Business Administration at Vanderbilt University. In 1991 Roger founded a company distributing and servicing power generation systems in Kentucky and Tennessee. This business expanded to include operations in North and South Carolina and Georgia.
In 1997, Roger and Kay moved back to the farm in Catoosa County and named it Full Circle Farm. For several years they maintained a commercial beef operation. During this time Roger served the County as Chair of the Planning and Zoning Board for several years and later as Vice-Chair of the Economic Development Authority. Roger’s love of the land and its conservation also fostered a lifelong passion for hunting, fishing and training bird dogs.
Today, six generations of the Bowman family have walked on Full Circle Farm. For over 30 years Roger has pursued his interest in family history and as an amateur genealogist has traced many of his ancestral families back to their original homes in Europe. As Roger says, “this in one project that will never be completed”.
Roger and his wife Kay met at the University of Georgia and have been married 57 years. They reside in Ringgold and have three children, six grandchildren and one great grandson. Family is the largest part of their lives.
Katie Sponberger, Executive Director, GACD with Roger Bowman, 2021 NACD SE Hall of Fame Inductee
Check out Roger’s Hall of Fame presentation video below! Be sure to turn your volume up.
The mission of GACD is to advocate for the conservation of Georgia’s natural resources by providing organization, leadership and a unified strategic direction to the Conservation Districts of the state. For more information on GACD or to explore opportunities on how you can support our efforts, please visit us online at www.gacd.us or on Facebook @GACDConserve.