The initial application for a Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) area in the Wiregrass was submitted to the Soil Conservation Service in 1965. It included the six counties of Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, and Houston. The application was amended in early 1967 to include Barbour, Crenshaw, and Pike counties. Russell County was added to the area in 1984, bringing the total area to ten counties containing 4,339,810 acres, as it stands today. The counties added to the original six had similar resource problems and opportunities, and they included most of the remaining basins of the Choctawhatcheee, Pea, and Chattahoochee Rivers. In September 1967 the Wiregrass RC&D Area was authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture. Approval for operations was granted in October 1967.
The Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the County Commissions in each of the counties served as the sponsors for the original application and they continue to serve as sponsors for the Wiregrass RC&D Area today. Each Soil and Water Conservation District and each Commission appoint one representative to serve on the Wiregrass RC&D Council which is the governing body of the Area. In addition, each District and each Commission also appoint an at-large member to the Council, making a 40-member governing organization. The Council elects 3 members from its ranks to serve as Council Officers. Those officers along with one member from each county and the immediate past chairman constitute the Wiregrass RC&D Executive Board. The duties of the Council and the Executive Board are set forth in the Constitution and By-Laws of the Council.
