Conservation Clip List for Friday, November 11th, 2022
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Conservation Clips is a weekly collection of articles distributed by NACD that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what’s driving conservation. These articles are not indicative of NACD policy and are the opinions of their authors, unless otherwise noted. If you have a relevant submission or need assistance with accessing articles, please contact the NACD Communications Team.
With funding through the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Estuary Program (NEP), the Shore Friendly South Sound Initiative connects waterfront homeowners with resources specialists at Pierce, Mason, and Thurston Conservation Districts to improve marine shoreline stewardship.
The good health of the Great Lakes and their freshwater estuaries depends also upon the health of the watersheds and rivers that drain into them. In Wisconsin, conservation partners have a long history of taking a proactive approach to implementing upstream conservation practices to help improve downstream water quality and the health of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and their freshwater estuaries.
In 2022, the Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) in southern Indiana was awarded a Friends of NACD District Grant. With this grant, the conservation district, in cooperation with Clarksville Parks and Recreation and the Floyd County Native Habitat Restoration Team (NHRT), have worked to increase awareness of invasive species, and the benefits of native species, within Clark and Floyd counties.
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has been awarded $3 million by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Gulf of Mexico Division to administer a competitive subgrant program within the non-Mississippi River Drainage Region. This includes the 2-Unit Hydrologic Units 12, 13, and a portion of 03.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is reinstating the Cost of Pollination Survey. NASS has mailed the questionnaires and will collect data immediately. The report, to be published on Jan. 11, 2023, will include data for 2017 and 2022 reference dates.
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture is launching an Educator Appreciation Campaign and is asking participants to write down an educator that has inspired them, take a photo with it, and submit the photo via the online form.
Their farms may be 800 miles apart, but Oklahoma no-tiller Jimmy Emmons and Iowa no-tiller Loran Steinlage utilize similar soil health strategies for water management.
School gardens, community gardens, urban farms, and small-scale agriculture projects in rural, suburban and urban areas can be recognized as a “People’s Garden” if they register on the USDA website and meet criteria including benefitting the community, working collaboratively, incorporating conservation practices and educating the public.
Are you a farmer, rancher or forest manager? Please share your vital feedback with USDA by taking a nationwide survey! The survey is completely anonymous, will take about 10 minutes to complete, is available in multiple languages, and will be open until March 31, 2023.
One hundred people gathered for a grazing field day run by Clarion Conservation District focusing on improving land while lowering costs. Participants heard presentations on soil monitoring, the profitability of silvopasture, soil health as a climate solution, and extreme weather adaptation through grazing systems.
For those who are thinking about updating or developing a nutrient management plan for their farm, this warm fall is a great time to collect those soil samples that you have been meaning to get this year! Contact the Somerset County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) office for soil and manure sample information sheets.
To encourage study and careers in soil and water conservation related fields, the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts (GACD) administers one $1,000 scholarship each year. Applications are due December 31, 2022.
Palouse Conservation District and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will start to accept applications Wednesday, Nov. 30 for their Palouse River Watershed Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding.
The Sheridan County Conservation District is now accepting orders through the annual conservation tree program. The program provides low-cost conservation seedling trees to any interested Sheridan County residents for conservation practices such as windbreaks, living snow fences, erosion control and habitat plantings.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), have announced a sign-up for Land Management and Land Rental activities through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Vermont DEC has contracted with partners, the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts and Redstart Forestry, to work with landowners interested in evaluating their land for participation in the program.
NRCS Caribbean Area Director, Luis Cruz-Arroyo, announces the first sign-up period for fiscal year 2023 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding to address farmers’ natural resource concerns.
USDA Under Secretary of Rural Development Torres Small joined Genesee Conservation District for a tour of a local farm and conservation projects that showcased the potential of locally-led conservation to continue supporting local producers with market-access, energy savings, and sustainability.
The Shade Ranch is enrolled in Audubon Conservation Ranching, a habitat program working to stabilize declining grassland bird populations in North Dakota. The ranch has developed a holistic approach to managing the land for the benefit of the cattle and the wildlife.
Less than a percent of the 5,800 boats, jet skis, and trailers inspected this year had invasive species onboard, less than half the number found last year. This was also one of the lowest years on record for intercepting the zebra mussels. This is in contrast to the high numbers from the previous year.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry (TDF) and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) have partnered with the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) to improve forest health and habitat for at-risk wildlife through forest restoration and management across the Cumberland Plateau.
A pollinator garden near downtown Columbia celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting last weekend. The grounds feature a circular walkway encompassed by five informative plaques and six above-ground garden beds.
The application period for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Agricultural Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE) is now open in Illinois. The program help landowners enhance and protect habitat for wetland wildlife on their lands.
Water quality, soil health and climate change: these are three of the region’s greatest natural resource concerns, as shared by community members of Franklin County. The feedback will help the Franklin County NRCD focus its funding and programming in 2023.
For farmers and ranchers in Kansas, drought concerns are always looming, so community conversations about conservation and water use are ongoing and vital.
Awarded each year by the Colorado Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society to a high school student who‘s interested in soil and water conservation practices, the Junior Conservationist of the Year award will be presented to Bedell during the Colorado Association of Conservation District’s meeting.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing up to $750,000 in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and $800,000 in the Conservation Stewardship Program through South Dakota’s Conservation Implementation Strategy (CIS). The Extending Grazing Periods CIS will target water quality by reducing nutrients and sediment.
(Subscriber-only) The drought took a new turn in 2022 as it swept through California. It hit some regions harder than ever, leaving others more intact. The net water shortage was roughly 1.8 million acre-feet in 2021—nearly half of that within the Central Valley—and 2.6 million acre-feet in 2022.
