Sheep Industry Faces

Sheep Industry Board Members Appointed by Governor

Virginia Governor Mark Warner announced appointments to the Virginia Sheep Industry Board in late November.

Appointed to the board for three-year terms were: Joe B. Andes, Andy Heverner, Chris King, Martha Polkey, Tracey Redifer, Kenneth Reynolds, John See, J. Alvin Thomas, Jr. and Carl Washington.

The Virginia Sheep Industry Board is responsible for promotion and economic development of the state?s sheep industry through additional market development, research and education. It also contributes financial support to the Virginia Cooperative Coyote Damage Control Program.

The sources of funds the board allocates to achieve its mission is in the Virginia Sheep Assessment tax, a 50-cents-per-head fee pad on sheep and lambs sold by Virginia producers.

ASI Board Member Runs for Farm Credit Board

Margaret Soulen-Hinson, a third-generation sheep and cattle rancher and member of ASI?s Executive Board, is in the running for a position for the board of directors of Northwest Farm Credit Services (NFCS).

Soulen-Hinson?s family-owned operation is headquartered in Weiser, Idaho. She has represented Idaho, Wyoming and Montana on the executive board for the past three years. She has one year left in her term.

NFCS is a customer-owned agricultural lending institution offering credit to agricultural producers throughout the Northwest. It is headquartered in Spokane, Wash. Members will be voting on the new board during the month of February.

In Memory of Beth Williams and Tom Thorne

Beth Williams, an internationally renowned Wyoming wildlife veterinarian known with discovering chronic wasting disease (CWD) and her husband, Tom Thorne, a prominent wildlife biologist, died in a traffic accident on Dec. 29, 2004.

Both Williams and Thorne were well known and highly respected for their expertise of many animal diseases, most notably CWD and brucellosis.

Williams was a pathologist at the University of Wyoming?s State Veterinary Lab. Thorne conducted research into many animal diseases as well.

Donations may be made to the University of Wyoming for a scholarship fund in the names of Beth Williams and Tom Thorne. For more information, contact Anne Leonard, director of Ag Development and College Relations, via e-mail at aleonard@uwyo.edu.