Donald Banks

Age: 85

Address: 1310 N. Sixth St., Cannon Falls

Family: Wife, Mary Ann, five sons and one daughter

Occupation: Retired farmer and seed salesman

Education: Through eighth grade

Civic involvement: Member of Corn Growers Association, member of Dairy Herd Improvement Association

What are your goals for the Goodhue County Soil and Water Conservation District?

We’ve got to protect the soil and water because we can’t live without either one of those.

I guess that’s the main goal — to keep the soil where it belongs on the fields, and when you do that you clean the water up. It’s kind of simple in a way.

What issues do you think the SWCD may encounter in the future?

I’ve been in this for 50 years and there’s been an awful lot of changes from then until now. I hope there aren’t that many changes in the future.

I guess the biggest thing we have to have is local participation. We all have to look out for what we want and what we think is important.

Like I said, you can’t live without water and you can’t live without the soil. If we want our children to live in the future we have to take care of it.

Tags: goodhue county, agriculture, environment, politics, government, election