NACD Officers

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President Kim LaFleur – Plympton, Mass.

President Kim LaFleur is the state advisor and program director for the Massachusetts FFA Association and an independent consultant to agricultural organizations and associations. LaFleur has served as president (2007-2010) and vice president (2010-2012) of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Districts, an NACD board member (2007 to 2013) and an NACD executive board member (2013-2016). In 2012, she was the recipient of the NRCS/NACD Olin Sims Conservation Leadership Award.

LaFleur, along with her husband Jeff and two sons Cameron and Logan, reside in Plympton, Massachusetts, where they own and operate Mayflower Cranberries, a 112-acre cranberry farm and agri-tourism business. LaFleur also breeds and shows World Grand Champion miniature horses and serves as the chair on the Plymouth County Conservation District’s board. For five years (2009-2014), LaFleur was executive director of the Massachusetts Farm Wineries and Growers’ Association. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in wildlife and fisheries biology from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

First Vice President Gary Blair – Starkville, Miss.

First Vice President Gary Blair retired from Southern AgCredit, ACA, formally known as Federal Land Bank, in 2016 after 36 years of service to agriculture in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Currently he has a private consulting business, Legacy Land & Financial Consulting. He has several clients including Addicus, a multifamily office financial business located in Tupelo and Oxford, Mississippi. Blair is the Managing Member of Blair Legacy Tree Farm located in Carroll County, Mississippi and is a member of the Forest Landowners Association.

Blair is a 1981 Graduate of Mississippi State University with degrees from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (BA- Agribusiness) and the College of Business (BBA-General Business Administration). He is married to the former Johnna Pulley of Jackson, Miss.  They have one son Jonathan, 31, a graduate of Mississippi State University, College of Business.

Blair is a former President of the Mississippi Forestry Association, Mississippi Association of Conservation Districts, Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce, United Way and Lions Club. He was a Council Chairman for the Lions of Mississippi, National President of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association and member of the board of director of the Mississippi State University Development Foundation. He was also the Mississippi State University representative on the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) for Land Grant Universities.

He currently serves as a board member for the Carroll County Soil and Water Conservation District, Mississippi Forestry Foundation and Mississippi State University Fellowship of Christian Athletes Chapter. He has served NACD as a Southeastern Executive Board member, Mississippi Board member, Finance Committee Chairman, Communications Committee Vice Chairman and Forestry Resource Policy Group Vice Chairman. He has also served on the NACD Legislative and Resolutions Committees.

He has been named Mississippi State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumnus of the Year.

Second Vice President Bill Simshauser – Kansas

Second Vice President Bill Simshauser grew up and still lives on his family’s farm in Kearny County, in the southwest portion of Kansas and in the heart of the region impacted by the 1930s dust bowl.

He graduated from Garden City Community College with an associate’s degree before returning to the family operation to farm and ranch with his father. Simshauser took over the farming and ranching operation in 1987 when his father retired.

Simshauser has served on the Kearny County Conservation District board going on 30 years and counting. He has held all positions on the district board including treasurer, vice chair, and chairperson. He also serves with the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts (KACD) and has for 10 years in various positions, including his current role as state president. He has testified to the Kansas Senate Agriculture Committee on behalf of conservation districts and has spent many hours visiting with Kansas representatives and senators in the Kansas capital, Topeka.

Simshauser is married to his wife Elizabeth and has two grown children, and three grandchildren. He continues to operate the family farm alongside his son, where they producer wheat, milo, and corn. They also have land in the Conservation Reserve Program and are currently leasing out a plot of native grassland.

Secretary-Treasurer Mark Masters – Georgia

Secretary-Treasurer Mark Masters has been a supervisor on the Lower Chattahoochee River Soil and Water Conservation District in southwest Georgia for over ten years and currently serves as President of the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts. As Executive Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center, he is well-versed on issues related to water use and management and has participated in a large portfolio of conservation research and outreach projects across the United States.

Mark is active on a number of local, state and national advisory boards and has been recognized as Georgia’s Supervisor of the Year (2020), a Georgia “Clean Water Hero” (2017) and, proudly, as a graduate of the National Conservation Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Institute (2022). Mark operates a beef cow and timber farm with his family and, along with his wife Amy, enjoys watching their three beautiful daughters make other kids look foolish on the soccer field

Immediate Past President Michael Crowder – West Richland, Wash.

Immediate Past President Michael Crowder holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in natural resources and environmental sciences, as well as numerous conservation awards, including Benton County and Washington state’s “Wildlife Farmer of the Year” awards, the Washington Association of Conservation Districts’ “Young Tiger” award and the Ducks Unlimited “Wood Duck,” “Bronze Mallard” and “Silver Mallard” awards.

For eight years, Crowder taught wetland restoration, wildlife science and ecology as an adjunct professor at Washington State University Tri-Cities. He currently manages farming operations in Illinois and Washington state and is actively involved in the management of his family’s third-generation farm in Indiana.

Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Peters – Washington, D.C.

Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Peters joined the staff of NACD in 2006 and became the association’s Chief Executive Officer in April 2015. Peters manages the association and leads advocacy efforts on behalf of the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts.

During his career with NACD, Peters has served as Chief Operating Officer as well as Legislative Affairs Manager. Earlier in his career, he served as Federal Policy Director for American Farmland Trust and directed climate, conservation and energy programs for National Farmers Union. He previously worked on Capitol Hill for former Congressman Earl Pomeroy, D – N.D., who sat on the House Agriculture Committee and the Ways and Means Committee.

Peters grew up on his family’s farm raising cattle in Wise County in rural southwestern Virginia. He holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and history from Emory and Henry College, as well as a Master of Public Administration degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.