Officers
Republican River Watershed: Jim Cecil, President - Cope, CO
Jim Cecil serves as the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts President, representing the Republican River Watershed. He has served on the CACD Board of Directors for 11 years. Jim and his wife Vickie live near Cope in Washington County, where they manage their cow/calf and yearling operation and grow wheat, corn, and hay crops. Conservation and sustainability are essential to this fourth-generation family farm. Jim also serves on the Cope Conservation District Board of Directors. Jim’s father and grandfather served on the CCD board and were also passionate about the conservation of soil, air, and water. |
Rio Grande River Watershed: Tyler Neely, Vice-President – Del Norte, CO
Tyler Neely is a fourth-generation farmer from the San Luis Valley. He and his wife Margaret own and operate Rio West Farms, LLC in Rio Grande County. Tyler has served as a supervisor for the Rio Grande Conservation District and has been a member of the Rio Grande Watershed Conservation Education Initiative since 2014. He also serves as the vice-chair for the Rio Grande Watershed and the San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District president. He is proud to continue a family legacy of land and water stewardship. |
Executive Director - Abbey Grey
Abbey started as CACD's Executive Director in May 2023. As Director she coordinates all CACD events such as the Legislators’ night out and honoring the Farmer and Rancher of the year at the NWSS, NACD Spring Fly-In, Envirothon, Camp Rocky, and the CACD Annual Meeting. Abbey also works with districts on the CACD Education Workshop and Speakership program, participates in partner and affiliate committees and subcommittees, works with legislative matters at a state and national level, and all CACD legislative committee projects. She is responsible for all aspects of the CACD/NRCS cooperative agreements. Outside of her work for CACD Abbey enjoys training and raising western performance horses at her home in Keenesburg.
Cell: 719-686-0020
Mailing Address: 1410 Valley View Drive, Ste. 316-419, Delta, CO 81416
Physical Address: 57 W Bromley Ln, Brighton, CO 80601
Abbey started as CACD's Executive Director in May 2023. As Director she coordinates all CACD events such as the Legislators’ night out and honoring the Farmer and Rancher of the year at the NWSS, NACD Spring Fly-In, Envirothon, Camp Rocky, and the CACD Annual Meeting. Abbey also works with districts on the CACD Education Workshop and Speakership program, participates in partner and affiliate committees and subcommittees, works with legislative matters at a state and national level, and all CACD legislative committee projects. She is responsible for all aspects of the CACD/NRCS cooperative agreements. Outside of her work for CACD Abbey enjoys training and raising western performance horses at her home in Keenesburg.
Cell: 719-686-0020
Mailing Address: 1410 Valley View Drive, Ste. 316-419, Delta, CO 81416
Physical Address: 57 W Bromley Ln, Brighton, CO 80601
Directors
Colorado River Watershed: Scott Jones, Director - Gypsum, CO
Scott Jones served as President of the CACD for four years and serves as a Director on the Board, representing the Colorado River Watershed. Scott is also the President of the Eagle County Conservation District and has served on the Board since 2008. He is the CACD Representative to the Colorado Ag Water Alliance and represents CACD on the CDA Soil Health Advisory Committee. Scott, his wife Jennifer, their daughter Shelby, and their son Sutton work together as co-owners of the Colorado River Ranch, where they raise cattle, grow hay, and train horses. Scott also enjoys competing in team roping in his spare time. 
San Juan Basin Watershed: Gary Thrash, Director - Durango, CO
Gary Thrash is a Colorado native and farms with his wife Kay on Florida Mesa, SE of Durango, where he served as a supervisor on the La Plata CD from 2012 to 2020. He retired from the Bureau of Land Management with 36+ years in public land resource management. Gary serves as a CACD Director, representing the San Juan Watershed, and serves as the CACD Alternate Representative for Colorado with the National Association of Conservation Districts. 
Upper South Platte River Watershed: Charlie Carnahan, Director - Kiowa, CO
Charlie Carnahan is a fourth-generation rancher and serves as a director for CACD, representing the Upper South Platte Watershed. Charlie and his wife Jane have four children and four grandchildren. He, and his son Chris, run a cow/calf operation and produce hay south of Kiowa in Elbert County. Charlie has served as a Kiowa Conservation District Board director for over 30 years. He is deeply committed to conservation practices. 
Lower South Platte River Watershed: Dale Parker, Director - Sedgwick, CO
Dale Parker serves as the CACD Director representing the Lower South Platte Watershed. Dale and her husband Richard farm dryland and irrigation, and run a cow calf stocker operation, where they employ rotational grazing systems on their native range and graze corn stalks and cover crops in the winter. After receiving her BA in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado and studying Agriculture Science and Management at UC Davis, Dale worked doing medical research at John Hopkins and the University of Colorado medical school. Dale then became a quality control/microbiologist for Coors and Anheuser Busch brewing companies before returning to the Parker family ranch in 1993. |
Gunnison-Dolores River Watershed: Mike Cleary, Secretary/Treasurer - Crawford, CO
Mike Cleary serves as the Secretary/Treasurer for CACD, representing the Gunnison and Dolores watershed. Mike also served on the Board for the Delta Conservation District for eight years. Mike and his wife Kristina live on their Western Slope cattle ranch near Crawford in Delta County. Mike is a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines and a professional engineer with 40 years of field experience. He started ranching operations in 2004 and manages a cow/calf operation with supporting hay production. He also serves as a board member on the Clipper Ditch and the Grandview Ditch. 
Upper Arkansas River Watershed: George Fosha, Director - Calhan, CO
George Fosha serves as the CACD Director representing the Upper Arkansas Watershed. He served as a supervisor for the Double El Conservation District for 20 years. George is a consulting water resources engineer with over 48 years of experience in water rights, water infrastructure, and project construction management for various industrial, governmental, municipal, and agricultural clients throughout Colorado. In their spare time, George and his wife Sally run a cow/calf operation on their family ranch (which dates to the 1870s) on Big Sandy Creek, near Calhan, Colorado. 
North-Platte, White, Yampa Watershed: Nick Charchalis, Director - Craig, CO
Nick Charchalis represents the Yampa, White, and North Platte River Watershed on the CACD Board and serves on the Colorado First Conservation District Board. He represents the CACD on the Soil Health Advisory Committee. Nick is a native of northwest Colorado, where he grew up on his immigrant parents’ sheep ranch, which was later converted to dryland wheat and beef production. Currently, Nick, his wife Ann, and their adult children run a commercial cow/calf operation on their third-generation ranch near Craig in Moffat County. Lower Arkansas Watershed: Vacant
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Additional Member/Partner Contacts:
Bob Warner, NACD CO Representative Member & CACD Alt Board Member - Fort Lupton, CO
Bob Warner is presently serving as Colorado’s Representative Board Member to the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Conservation Foundation (NCF). He has served on the NACD Stewardship and Education Committee and supported the Inspirational Program each year at the Annual Meeting. He presently serves on the Natural Resources Committee. On the state and local level, Bob serves on the CACD Board as the alternate director to the Upper South Platte Watershed. He also serves as a supervisor of the Southeast Weld Conservation District. Bob is a rancher and farmer with a small cow/calf and private natural beef feedlot operation near Fort Lupton. He also raises corn and hay for his livestock and local buyers. Bob has participated in Conservation District activities for over 49 years. |
Brett Moore, OnTheBallot Consulting - CACD Lobbyist
Brett started his career in Colorado as a non-partisan clerk at the state legislature in 2008. Shortly after he founded OnTheBallot Consulting, a Denver-based lobbying and consulting firm, where he has consistently achieved wins for his clients by combining strong relationships with elected officials, staff, and other government affairs professionals. He has an in-depth knowledge of the legislative process learned over 15 sessions at the State Capitol. OnTheBallot's clients are non-profits, businesses, trade associations, and local governments whose voices are amplified by this representation. He proudly hails from a family of farmers and ranchers in Northwest Kansas, graduated from the University Kansas, and now calls Denver home. OnTheBallot Consulting, LLC - Denver, CO Cell: (303) 900-8154 |