Voters in Freeborn County elected two new district supervisors to the Freeborn County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Colin Wittmer and Paul R. Heers Jr. will take over the seats in District 4 and 3, respectively.

Wittmer, 26, of rural Alden ran against Jon Wiersma, 26, of rural Albert Lea, for the District 4 supervisor seat.

Wittmer won the race with 56 percent of the votes. The final vote tally was Wittmer with 6,261 votes and Wiersma with 4,789 votes. Results also showed 38 write-in votes.

Wittmer has lived in Freeborn County his entire life and currently resides at 65361 140th St., Alden.

He works for Freeborn County Environmental Services as a household hazardous waste technician and county feedlot officer. He farms 120 acres in rural Conger. He thinks that serving on the SWCD will be a good learning experience and looks forward to being involved in water quality decisions.

His goal is to continue making various programs available, including grass buffer strips and conservation farming practices.

“I plan to learn more specific details on these programs to make informed decisions when taking the office,” he said.

This will be Wittmer’s first term. The District 4 seat is currently occupied by Cole Pestorious, who will vacate his post at the end of his term on Dec. 31.

Heers, who ran unopposed for the District 3 supervisor seat, won the race in his district with 10,807 votes. Results show there were also 40 write-in votes.

Heers, 58, won the seat that will be vacated by Roger M. Nelson, whose appointed term will end Dec. 31.

Heers has lived in the area most of his life, and currently resides just south of Oakland at 19917 890th Ave. He will bring his years of agricultural experience and common sense to the position.

“I look at it as learning more about the area,” he said. “I want to leave this a better place than when I came on.”

He currently farms 1,100 acres and has 100 head of cattle.

The Freeborn County SWCD is governed by a five-person board of supervisors, who each serve four-year terms. Serving the other districts are District 1 supervisor Dave Ausen, District 2 supervisor Chris Dahl and District 5 supervisor Don Kropp.

The goal of the SWCD is to serve the residents of Freeborn County by creating an awareness of soil and water resource concerns, offering practical alternatives to manage these concerns and providing technical assistance to apply and maintain best management practices that impact water quality while sustaining soil productivity and land-user profits.

The board works primarily with private landowners, to help them solve soil and water conservation problems. They focus on soil erosion reduction, water quality improvement, enhancing wildlife habitat and work to create awareness of conservation practices to help preserve resources.