Justin Hanson remembers exactly why he applied to work at the Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District: District Manager Bev Nordby.

Around 2002 when Hanson was working for the Jackson County SWCD, Hanson watched Nordby speak at an event and thought, “That’s the kind of work environment I’d like to be in.”

“I knew that it was going to be a great place to work,” Hanson said.

Hanson started working for Nordby in 2004 and is now set to replace her as the SWCD’s manager and Cedar River Watershed District’s administrator.

Though sad to see Nordby retire, CRWD Board Chair Sue Olson is confident in breadth of experience Hanson will bring to the table, calling him someone who is known in the community and the region for his experience and as someone to go with questions about the field.

“I don’t think there we’ll be a hiccup,” she said.

CRWD Board Manager Mike Merten called Hanson very capable and someone who knows the business.

“He’ll just do a wonderful job, we’re really confident of that,” Merten said.

The boards hired Hanson in spring, so he’s had plenty of time to prepare for Nordby’s retirement.

Hanson is learning about things he hasn’t had to do yet, as he’ll have a lot more to do with the budget and decision making. But he’s already been a part of that, as he praised Nordby for including staff in the decisions.

Nordby touted Hanson as someone who’ll bring a wealth of technical experience to the job, and he’ll have to shift away from that a bit.

“I will have to shift away from the on-site construction type, in the field work,” Hanson said.

To Hanson, the job is always changing and its just a new challenge to take the new job.

“I’m definitely embracing it,” he said. “I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

However, he doesn’t want to completely leave behind his technical side, and admits there will be differences in his and Nordby’s styles.

However, he sees an easy transition because of what he called a great staff at the SWCD/CRWD.

Hanson said their office is small and in local government, they can be mobile to address the issues as they come up. Since he started, the SWCD has started working with Turtle Creek Watershed District and the CRWD, which significantly expanded their capacity and their office.

He said it’s been rewarding to see the types of projects they’ve been able to get done, but Hanson isn’t quick to accept the credit.

“As a team we’ve done a lot of great things,” Hanson said.

Along with his role as a resource specialist for SWCD and CRWD, Hanson is also the administrator for the Turtle Creek Watershed. He’ll also take over as CRWD administrator.

Resource Specialist Steve Lawler will fill Hanson’s current role, along with his role as the Turtle Creek Administrator

Hanson grew up in Butterfield in southwest Minnesota and attended the Minnesota State University, Mankato to study natural resources.

In his free time, Hanson spends a lot of his time with 14-year-old son, Peyton, who lives with him part time. Along with going to Peyton’s sporting events, Hanson also fishes and hunts.