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 accessing articles, please contact the NACD Communications Team.
NACD Blog: Wildfire Resilience in Action at Okanogan Conservation District
By the Okanogan Conservation District
08/28/2026
The Okanogan Conservation District in Washington State has served Okanogan County landowners and residents since 1940, offering free, voluntary conservation assistance across agriculture, forests and wildfire, water resources, habitat, education, and community outreach.
USDA: Secretary Rollins Announces Ranchers First Initiatives to Rebuild the Great American Beef Herd
08/31/2026
Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the Ranchers First Initiative, a sweeping package of actions to continue rebuilding the Great American Beef Herd and put America’s ranchers back at the center of our nation’s food supply. Building on USDA’s October 2025 Plan to Fortify the American Beef Industry, the Trump Administration is delivering again.
NCF: National Conservation Foundation – Next Generation Leadership Institute Accepting Applications for 2027 Cohort
09/01/2026
The National Conservation Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2027 Next Generation Leadership Institute, a yearlong leadership development program designed to prepare conservation district leaders to lead local, state, and national conservation efforts.
USDA: Secretary Rollins Unveils Plan to Modernize Agricultural Data Collection and Put Farmers First
09/01/2026
Today, at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture Data Modernization Plan to put Farmers First, reduce unnecessary burdens on producers, and improve the timeliness, accuracy, and usefulness of the agricultural data that informs decisions across American agriculture.
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Bennington Banner: Letting the river roam: Surveying the scars left by Irene 15 years later
By Danielle M. Crosier | Sandgate, VT | Northeast Region
08/28/2026
From start to finish, many partners have been involved in the project’s development and eventual implementation. These include the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance, the Town of Sandgate, the Southwestern Vermont Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Fish & Wildlife Department, the United States Forest Service, the Bennington County Conservation District, and landowners (currently the Monarch Foundation).
Farms.com: NRCS Assistant Chief Highlights Regenerative Agriculture During Central North Dakota Field Tour
Regan, ND | Northern Plains Region
08/31/2026
Assistant Chief Jimmy Emmons of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service joined North Dakota producers, local partners and NRCS staff for an agricultural field tour highlighting how voluntary conservation programs, technical assistance and regenerative agriculture practices address local resource concerns. Participants included producers Jeremy Saeman and Jason Bosch; Burleigh County Soil Conservation District manager Darrel Oswald and District Supervisor Dave Bauer.
The Economic Times: In 1995, North Dakota’s Richland County SCD began monitoring Antelope Creek for bacteria. 10 years later, a watershed project tackled septic, livestock and farm sources to cut bacteria
By Muskan Singh | North Dakota | Northern Plains Region
08/31/2026
For years, bacteria pollution was a concern in Antelope Creek and the Wild Rice River in North Dakota, affecting recreational uses and prompting long-term monitoring. The Richland County Soil Conservation District began monitoring the watershed in 1995. A decade later, it launched a watershed implementation project aimed at tackling the sources behind the problem.
The Economic Times: In the late 1990s, Arkansas agencies urged landowners to use BMPs to keep cattle from streams. Today, 2 agencies and local owners protect these sensitive waters together
By Shreya Biswas | Fulton County, AR | South Central Region
08/31/2026
Water quality concerns in Fulton County, Arkansas, prompted the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and the Fulton County Conservation District to focus on protecting local tributaries and streams in the late 1990s. Over the years, the district worked with landowners to implement conservation practices aimed at protecting riparian corridors, perennial streams and watersheds.
The Daily Record: To Protect Forests, I Learned To Burn Them
By Alex Brown | Auburn, WA | Pacific Region
09/02/2026
My classmate Tony Craven, wildfire preparedness project manager with the Kittitas County Conservation District, grew up playing in the forests above the small Washington town of Roslyn. Craven is overseeing a $10 million federal grant to protect communities near Roslyn, which nearly went up in flames a few years ago when a wildfire came dangerously close to the town. Prescribed burns will be a big part of that solution.