Cory Rayburn
District Supervisor
(He/Him/His)
Cory Rayburn joined the District as an appointed member in July of 2013. Cory brings to the District a diverse knowledge of environmental regulations related to land development. Cory is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC), Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM), Envision Sustainability Professional (Env SP), and a Certified trainer for GSWCC E&S courses. His recent work includes successfully adopting and implementing Green Infrastructure standards for stormwater management in the City of Atlanta. Cory graduated from UGA with a B.S. in Environmental Health Science and a B.A. in Anthropology and received a M.S. in Civil Engineering from Kennesaw State University. Cory also serves on the Governor's Stakeholder Advisory Board and the Southeast Stormwater Association's (SESWA) Executive Board.
Jason Ulseth
District Supervisor
(He/Him/His)
jasonulseth@gmail.com
Jason Ulseth is a Georgia native who grew up fishing and boating on the Chattahoochee River. During his childhood, he developed a love and passion for the river and our natural environment. In further pursuit of this passion, he attended the University of Georgia and earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health in 2003. He then went on to work for nearly 5 years for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission.
In 2007, he joined the team at Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) as the organization’s Technical Programs Director. Effective January 2015, Jason assumed the role of Riverkeeper and serves as the organization’s lead river protection advocate and spokesperson. He also serves as CRK’s lead boat captain and is licensed by the United States Coast Guard as a Merchant Marine Officer to captain passenger vessels of up to 50 tons.
Jason is an expert in stormwater management and is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control and a Georgia certified Design Professional and Trainer. He is also an elected District Supervisor of the Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Jason is a graduate of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership, class of 2016. In 2019, Atlanta Magazine listed Jason as one of Atlanta’s Top 500 Most Powerful Leaders.
Jason and his wife, Dawn, currently reside in Johns Creek with their two children.
Ralph McDonald
District Supervisor
(He/Him/His)
Ralph MacDonald grew up in Atlanta catching fish, snakes, crawdads, salamanders, and frogs in virtually any wet space he could find. In 2015, he started as a grant writer at Truly Living Well funding an orchard and food cooperative at Pittman Park and then taking on program management for both projects. In 2017, he joined the Atlanta Housing Authority’s Choice Neighborhood team as a part of the Department of Planning’s Westside Promise Zone initiative to set up urban agriculture and food justice programming for the city. Ralph recruited and organized local growers, chefs, and food justice organizations for a six-part working group outlining the food system needs in the Westside and Return to Community Festival to demonstrate the potential of food business in the Atlanta University Center. These projects demonstrated ways the Housing Authority’s municipal and federal resources could be used to build up the city’s food infrastructure and be a service to the AHA residents. In 2018 he began as Farm and Operations Manager at Urban Sprout, providing a framework for the organization’s new non-profit arm, managing food from seed to plate, and tending the plant nursery on site. Ralph presently plans and implements permaculture projects, connects farmers to volunteers, and helps create alliances and networks within the Atlanta food scene.
Holly Keepers
District Program Assistant
(She/Her/Hers)
holly.keepers@gacd.us
Holly Keepers recently graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at North Carolina State University. Holly has worked with multiple governmental organizations in the past, including the U.S Fish and Wildlife and the City of Raleigh - Parks and Recreation Department. She enjoys spending her free time outdoors and birdwatching. As a Fulton County native, she looks forward to working in her hometown on conservation projects she is passionate about.
Through the Georgia Conservation District Initiative in partnership with USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts (GACD), Fulton County is able to work with a District Program Assistant. The DPA provides support to the Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District by serving as a liaison between conservation organizations.
The Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District is comprised of five District Supervisors: 3 elected and 2 appointed. District supervisors are unpaid state officials who work hand-in-hand with the Georgia Soil & Water Conservation Commission, NRCS, and local governments. Walter S. Rekuc
District Supervisor
(He/Him/His)
Rekuc is the Construction Project Manager for Fulton County Public Works and is managing the $330 million dollar expansion of the Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility in Roswell, Georgia.
Walter has spent over forty years in the development and construction of residential and commercial properties involving acquisition, entitlement, and development. Most recently, Walt was President at Hillside Development, Vice President at Eastern Development Group, Jim Cowart Residential, Gwinnett Partners, and Eagle Real Estate Advisors. At these firms and with his present company, he has developed over 3,200 residential lots, 30 commercial lots, 2 commercial buildings, and 10 recreation facilities within 40 different communities with construction cost for these projects over $300 million dollars, One of the communities Walter developed won the highest honor in the real estate industry from National Association of Home Builders and Professional Builders Magazine for the Best in American Living for Best Community Design, for Developments over 151 Homes, for Rivermoore Park in the City of Suwanee. The Gwinnett County Historic Society awarded one of Walter’s projects the Best Historic Preservation Project in the County. Another project of Walt’s won the Exceptional Merit Award for Development Design in the Expansion of a Town Center, presented by the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Regional Business Coalition in 2002 for The Villages at Lafayette Park in the City of Fayetteville. He is active in the Metro Atlanta Communities and serves as Supervisor on the Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation Commission for 22 years. He was the Vice Chairman of the City of Milton Board of Zoning Appeals for 10 years. He serves as a Board Member of the Gwinnett County Development Advisory Board for 12 years and is the Past President of the Georgia Section of Institute of Transportation Engineers. He recently finished 21 years of volunteer service to the March of Dimes and was awarded their Lifetime Distinguished Service Award.
Walter earned his degrees in Civil Engineering from Southern Polytechnic State University. He also worked in the public sector as City Engineer and Director of Public Works for the City of Roswell, Deputy Public Works Director/ Capital Improvement Manager for the City of Sandy Springs and as Senior Engineer for the City of Atlanta. Having worked both in the public and private sectors and through the boards he has served on he has developed relationships that prove invaluable in navigating the complex permitting processes and developing projects through the entitlement and regulatory process.
Alan Toney
Chairman
(He/Him/His)
mudflat@comcast.net
Alan Toney is a fourth generation Atlantan. He is a retired businessman and an avid fly fisherman. As a member of Friends of the River he helped create the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. He was Vice Chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Atlanta Development Planning Committee during the implementation of Metropolitan River Protection Act. He has been a Soil and Water Supervisor since 1995 and he believes that protecting the Waters of Georgia is central to promoting smart growth and livability of the Metro Atlanta Area.