For the past 30 years, Darci Zolman has been doing what she loves.

Her inspiration came from a 1904 novel.

“When I was 12 or 13 years old I read ‘Freckles’ by Gene Stratton-Porter,” said Zolman. “It was about an orphan boy hired to protect the woods from tree thieves.

“The theme just connected with me and I said, ‘I have to be outdoors.’”

She has never let go of her love for nature sparked by that book.

Zolman earned an agronomy degree at Purdue University. She described herself as a “transplant” from Lawrenceburg, a small Indiana town tucked on the state’s southeast border.

“We were practically in Kentucky, practically in Ohio and actually in Indiana,” she said.

At Purdue she met her future husband, a farmer in Pierceton. “Since he couldn’t move the farm, I moved up here in 1979.”

Her passion for agriculture derived in part from her grandparents, who worked the family farm.

She also embraced a drive to preserve the earth’s natural beauty.

“I’m kind of an anomaly,” she said. “I have one foot in ag and one foot in environmentalism,” an apt combination which led her to her current role as program administrator for the Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District.

“This position gives me the opportunity to straddle that line,” she said. “I love my job.”

She talks about her duties as enthusiastically as she plies them.

“My passion is in education, so that’s my favorite part,” she said, noting she started with the county as a part-time employee “doing only education.”

“I do a lot of school programs in the county and we do some field programs for youth,” she said. Kosciusko County has no park system, so Zolman escorts students to area locations, including ACRES Land Trust in Silver Lake, Pisgah Marsh Boardwalk in Pierceton and Beyer Farm Trail “between North Webster and Syracuse.”

Her most gratifying experience was when a third-grade boy “came up to me, gave me a hug and said, ‘Oh, Mrs. Zolman, you’re better than Bill Nye.’”

After “about five years,” Zolman went full time.

Now she also “takes care of all personnel issues, county policy and protocol” and administers “grants, contracts and agreements.”

She works with “a lot of partners” like lake associations, colleges and foundations. “That is the only way to do anything anymore.”

Zolman extends kudos to the community in helping preserve natural resources.

“This is a really great progressive county in many ways,” she said. “We have a rather unique dynamic between agriculture and the lake community.

“The vision statement for our district is, ‘A productive county in harmony with a quality environment.’”

“I think people now are a little more aware and knowledgeable of natural resource issues,” she said. “We have probably the best relationship ever” with the agriculture community and county residents.

Zolman offered advice for those interested in the environment. “Get outside for some unstructured play. This is key, especially for kids. And don’t rely on social media for your information. Go right to the source. Call us.”

The district is holding a tree sale through “the first part of April.” Order forms are available at www.kosciuskoswcd.org or at Zolman’s office, 217 E. Bell Drive, Warsaw.

For more information, call Zolman at (574) 267-7445, ext. 3.