Amid stacked empty cardboard boxes in John Cooper’s office is evidence of a career built on a love for the land. Serving as county extension agent – horticulture for the now-Texas AgriLife Extension Service of Denton County for the past 23 years, his workspace is surrounded by tools of his trade and a few relics: shelves of horticulture books, dozens of awards and certifications, a hornet’s nest and an expansive topography map of Texas that was given to him by his mother.

“It’s going to take me a few days to dig out of here,” he says.

DRC/Gary Payne

John Cooper, shown in his office in Denton on April 29, retired after 23 years of serving as county extension agent – horticulture for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service of Denton County.

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As Cooper glances at more than two decades worth of memories he still needs to pack, he grabs a framed photo of a young girl at Old Settler’s Elementary School garden in Flower Mound holding the prized head of lettuce that she grew — the result of a Texas Master Gardener Association project, one of many programs Cooper has initiated during his reign.

“She’s pretty proud of that,” he says, placing it back on top of a Burpee Seed Company clock hanging on the wall.

After graduating from college, Cooper began managing a 350-acre citrus, peanut and vegetable farm in 1975 in Carrizo Springs. A year later, he landed his first job as an extension agent as the statewide coordinator of the Texas Pecan Pest Management Program for Texas Agricultural Extension Service.

Developing and monitoring control strategies for insects and disease pests for the Texas state tree is one of his proudest professional accomplishments, he said.

By 1986, Cooper came to Denton, where he spent the majority of his career serving Denton County with the Texas ArgiLife Extension Service, formerly Texas Cooperative Extension, a statewide educational agency and member of the Texas A&M University System.

Each state is part of the Cooperative Extension System, an entity of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Land-Grant University System created under the Smith-Lever Act of 1914. The extension service was created as part of the land-grant university in each state to interpret, disseminate and promote practical use of knowledge to improve the quality of life for all residents.

Extension agents and other specialists integrate teaching, research and public service into their duties, enabling the extension service to respond to communities with research-based information through demonstrations and publications.

“We’ve been in business a long time,” he said.

For more than two decades, he has disseminated information throughout the county in his weekly column in the  Denton Record-Chronicle and 48 other media and green industry representatives in the area, spanning from homeowner association newsletters to feed store bulletin boards. He also has written or co-authored many professional papers, scientific journal articles and educational publications.

Cooper specializes in solving gardening problems by giving practical advice on plant care.

“Think of a question, any question, about almost anything remotely related to agriculture, and there is probably someone who has called and asked me that very question at one time or another,” he said.

In his columns, which Cooper said began as essays, he addressed why a problem occurs, offered the nuts and bolts on how to solve it, and then gave encouragement on following through with the solutions.

“I’ve tried to make my column of general interest, appealing to multiple levels of people’s understanding,” he said. “I’ve never missed a week.”

Roots spur passions

Cooper’s father was a Methodist minister, and his mother was a choir teacher. He grew up in Waco and developed a love for the outdoors. While his early experiences with horticulture began on his uncle’s cotton gin, Cooper said, most people were familiar with agriculture in the ’50s because they cultivated gardens to grow their own food.

“Circumstances, objectivism and perceptions change,” Cooper said. “But the physics of nature are timeless.”

He said gardening, ecology and nature are so much a part of everyone’s life, but the younger generations aren’t having the same opportunities to engage with the outdoors.

“I wish we could expose more kids to agriculture,” he said.

Cooper holds a deep appreciation for farmers, saying that only 5 percent of the country’s farms are under corporate management, making family-owned farms the vast majority. One in five jobs in Texas is related in some way to farming, such as banking, trucking and sales to name a few, Cooper said, adding that people have a lot at stake in their own food production system.

“People need to understand how much risk farmers take to feed us,” he said.

Growing volunteers

Cooper has funneled countless pieces of information to the public through the years on horticulture and how to get the most from Mother Nature, but his deeper legacy could be the volunteers he’s cultivated.

He holds the strong corps of Texas Master Gardener Association members and Texas Master Naturalist volunteers, who aid other Denton County residents, close to his heart.

Eighty Master Gardeners gathered at their April meeting at Upper Trinity Regional Water District to honor Cooper. After awarding him a lifetime membership in the association, as well as renaming their annual educator award in his name, they ended the meeting as everyone rose and sang “Happy Trails.”

“John is respected for his intelligence, knowledge and experience and is loved for his kindness and generosity,” said Zoe Broxson, Denton County Master Gardener Association president.

“He is one of the world’s good guys, and he is leaving some big shoes to fill,” said Broxson.

The search for Cooper’s replacement should take three to nine months.

In 1989, he started the Denton County Master Gardener Association. After attending 70 hours of classroom instruction and passing a final exam, an intern in the program must complete another 70 hours of volunteer work in the community to gain certification. Once certified, Master Gardeners are required to complete at least 12 hours each of advanced training and work on a community project each year.

By 1999, when a partnership formed between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Cooperative Extension, Cooper headed the 11-week course for another program to train volunteers. The Elm Fork Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program was organized much like the Master Gardener Association, producing educated volunteers to help serve the community.

Once trained, members of both programs initiate and help maintain several projects.

“John has been good for this community,” said Dave Rowley, board member and past president of the Elm Fork Chapter of Master Naturalists. “He’s a stealth proponent for natural resources and taking care of them.”

Cooper’s investment in training volunteers has paid off. In 2005, 71 Elm Fork Chapter members volunteered 6,298 hours of educational outreach service, valued at $110,530, to 37 different projects, reaching 14,118 people with environmental stewardship information and assistance.

When creating programs that rely on volunteers, sometimes organizers find it difficult to let go of their brainchild.

But Sonny Solis, education outreach coordinator for Ray Roberts Lake, said Cooper has been especially effective in educating volunteers because he lets the natural forces of a program take over.

“He has the ability to initiate a program and get it started and then let it work,” Solis said. Cooper acts as a mentor and guide and then lets the interests of the volunteers steer the programs, he added.

Cooper said that helping someone solve a particular problem actually allows that individual to apply the knowledge to a broader range of events. He also applies the same logic to volunteers’ impact on others.

“If you help one person, then they will help 10 more,” Cooper said.

Changing times

One of the biggest changes during his tenure has been an increase in the economic activity in horticulture, “the green industry, as we call it,” Cooper said.

In 2006, the Denton County reported sales of horticultural crops, products and services that totaled $253,380,832.

“That number has steadily grown with the population,” he said.

Another change, Cooper said, is how he delivers information to the public.

“It used to be that all publications were printed and then mailed,” he said. “But now I can attach a PDF file and e-mail it, or people can print information directly from the Web site.”

Other technological advancements, such as digital photography, provide convenience to his position. Problems that once involved an onsite visit can now be assessed from his computer.

Another example of how technology has been incorporated into the field is his 60-power microscope camera. He can now take a photo of the head of an ant and send it to an entomologist for a quick assessment.

“It’s expanded our potential for assisting,” he said.

But he said that being out in the field is where he gained his knowledge. Books, Cooper says, only confirmed his physical discoveries.

“I never knew something until I saw it,” he said.

“You have to believe you can’t fool Mother Nature,” Cooper said. “She’ll teach you all you need to know if you observe and learn.”

Cooper said he plans to spend time with his family during retirement, but that he will miss being an agent.

His advice to his successor is, “Listen to the people you serve.”

RANDENA HULSTRAND can be reached at 940-566-6845 or e-mailed at rhulstrand@dentonrc.com .