The Pope County Board of Commissioners met last week in a work session to hear an update from the county extension office as well as the announcement of this year’s farm family, and a presentation on the sheriff’s department’s drone program.

This year’s farm families are Brad and Greg Vold and Dorrich Dairy. The farm family program honors farm families throughout Minnesota for their significant contributions to the agriculture industry and their communities. 

Trisha Sheehan, Regional Director for the University of Minnesota Extension, and Jacob Halper, Extension Educator for the Pope County Extension Office were on hand at the meeting to present some of the statistics from their programs on the county level and the state level. In total, Minnesota had 41,580 total participants in the 4H program. Pope County is home to 250 of them. 

The county had 44 new members and retained 72 percent of youth from 2022. On average, youth participate for seven years in 4H programs. Eight of the youth in Pope County reported having an opportunity to lead in the Pope County Youth Leadership Program. There are currently six 4H clubs in Pope County including the Ben Wade Blazers, Busy Beavers, Lakes Area Leaders, Lowry Legends, New Prairie Pioneers and Villard Livewires. 

A big part of 4H is community service projects and volunteers. There are 74 screened adult volunteers in Pope County that include club leaders and project leaders. Adult volunteers are the key to successful experiences for 4H members. They share knowledge and skills gained through work or hobbies and chaperone at camps and retreats. Volunteers are screened by a process that includes an application, background check and orientation. 

The Pope County Sheriff Tim Riley and Deputy Matthew Hoffman presented information and a demonstration of their drone program. Discussion revolved around an incident showing the drones capabilities. A man who had an incident with law enforcement in Edina fled the area and eventually ended up at Glacial Lakes State Park. Hoffman used one of the department’s drones with thermal capabilities to find the suspect in thick vegetation. “We went up to about 300 feet and without the thermal camera we have never found him,” stated Hoffman.

The county’s drone program flies for West Central SWAT as well. The department has three people that are certified to fly the drones and a training two more. There are several drones in the program including those that can be maneuvered indoors if needed.

The next regular meeting of the board will be on Tuesday, March 19 in the third floor meeting room of the courthouse at 9 a.m.