BLANCHARD – Stephen Hobart was recognized recently as the third-place finalist for 2003 District Conservation Board Member of the Year.

The National Conservation District Employees Association recognizes district board members and employees across the nation each year. Hobart was nominated by the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Maine Association of Conservation Districts and the Northeast Regional Association of Conservation District Employees.

A local board member for eight years, most recently as board chair, Hobart and his wife, Diana, a SAD 4 middle school teacher, raise fallow deer and buffalo at their Breakneck Ridge Farm.

Hobart and the other finalists nominated from districts all over the country received high marks in professionalism, leadership and dedication, initiative and innovation, involvement at state, regional, and national levels, conservation leadership and their efforts beyond the local conservation district.

This month, Hobart will be among the first Piscataquis district supervisors ever to represent the Penquis region at the National Association of Conservation Districts annual meeting.