Richard Coombe, Regional Assistant Chief- East

Updated 03/07/2005

Richard Coombe was selected as Regional Assistant Chief - East, for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in August 2004. In this position, he serves as a management representative of the Chief, providing direction of NRCS programs and activities and overall leadership and supervision to state conservationists in the NRCS East Region. Areas are: Alabama, Caribbean Area, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

From 1993-2003, Coombe served as founding Chair and CEO of the Watershed Agricultural Council, Inc. He oversaw an annual budget of $15 million and a professional staff of 150 working with more than 500 farmers and foresters to develop and implement a comprehensive planning approach to watershed protection in the 1.2 million acre New York City Watershed, water source for 9 million people.

He is an owner and operator of a 1,000-acre beef and crop farm that has been in his family for three generations and was a professor at Sullivan County Community College. From 1983-1992 Coombe served as a member of the New York State Assembly.

Coombe earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University and holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He has received a variety of awards and national recognition for his conservation and environmental activities.