Tom Lucas Joins the OCHS Board

Tom Lucas speaks at OCHS’s 90th anniversary commemoration of the Black Sunday Dust Bowl Storm held in Guymon, Oklahoma April 22, 2025.

At the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society in late February, the membership elected Tom Lucas to the board of directors. Tom fills the unexpired term previously held by Ed Casey. Ed resigned his OCHS board position when he took over as president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts in February.

“We are delighted to have Tom on our board” said Ben Pollard OCHS President. “It was Tom who initiated the task force over ten years ago to look at forming this organization. He deserves the credit for making our organization a reality.  He has served as an advisor to the board since the beginning. We are pleased Tom agreed to serve as a board member.”

Tom is a fifth-generation farmer rancher from Woodward County. He is a graduate of OSU where he served as student body president. He has had a long and distinguished career in natural resource management and rural economic development in Oklahoma. In the conservation community Tom is known as the long-time coordinator of the NRCS High Plains Resource, Conservation and Development Association. He retired from the NRCS as their Public Information Officer in Stillwater. Tom helped spearhead a series of community events around the state known as “Lessons from the Dust Bowl” in conjunction with Ken Burns documentary film The Dust Bowl. This work resulted in an Emmy in the Community Service category in 2013.

Tom is a champion of Rural Oklahoma and has worked tirelessly throughout his career to improve the economic conditions in rural areas. He believes that Rural Oklahoma should add value to all natural resource products, crops, and livestock before leaving the state’s borders. Tom continues to promote rural economic development through his Rural Development “A” Team consulting work.

Tom will add valuable leadership and experience to the board and bring a passion for collecting, preserving and sharing Oklahoma’s conservation history.  To learn more about Tom and his career you can access his oral history on the OSU Library’s website in the Conservation Heritage Oral History Collection.