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: NACD Comments on USDA Reorganization
09/10/2025
Conservation districts work side-by-side with USDA partners in local communities across the country, giving them unique insights into the impacts of USDA programs at the local, state, and national levels. As USDA considers changes affecting the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Forest Service, and mission support functions, we offer the following comments, questions, and recommendations.
NACD Blog: Did You Know? Heir’s Property and Conservation
09/09/2025
Did you know that heirs’ property affects the ownership of an estimated 9 million acres across the U.S.? Heirs’ property is family-owned land that is jointly owned by descendants of a deceased person whose estate did not clear probate. In essence, this means that the descendants, or heirs, have the right to use the property, but there is no clearly established legal ownership of the parcel.
SNJ Today: Salt Hay Farming
09/08/2025
The Natural Resources Conservation Service sees the need to develop different approaches for combating sea level rise instead of simply watching forests die. Zander is one of the farmers who is proactive in developing a product that is tolerant to the habitat changes caused by climate change. The Conservation Service and other landowner incentive conservation grant programs are supporting his quest for solutions.
U.S. Department of Interior: Interior Proposes to Rescind Public Lands Rule, Restoring Balanced, Multiple-Use Management
09/10/2025
The Department of the Interior is proposing to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule, aligning with Secretary Doug Burgum’s commitment to restoring balance in federal land management by prioritizing multiple-use access, empowering local decision-making and supporting responsible energy development, ranching, grazing, timber production and recreation across America’s public lands.
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USDA-NRCS: Eden Acres: EQIP Participant and Mom on a Mission
By Shala Larson | South Dakota | Northern Plains Region
08/19/25
Mindy Eden is a hardworking mom of seven who is using conservation to grow deeper roots for her next generation’s success. Starting four years ago in 2021, Mindy wanted to make sure she left behind a business her daughters could take on if they choose to do so when older.
Morning AgClips: Where Cows MOOve Together for a Sustainable Operation
By Isamaris Aparicio González | Hatillo, PR | Southeast Region
09/04/2025
In Hatillo, Puerto Rico, a municipality known as “The Capital of the Dairy Industry”, Carlos Alberto Pérez Pérez, a 3rd generation dairy farmer and agronomist from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, visits his farm every day with the desire to make a difference and the passion to educate and create a more efficient system for traditional dairy farming. His story with farming began with his grandfather, Don Benjamín Pérez, who started a dairy farm in 1974 and raised his family around it. Carlos’ father followed the steps of his own, becoming part of the dairy farmer community, and now Carlos is committed to continuing the family legacy.
Young farmer builds beef business through family collaboration
Ava Spleir | Gilman, IL | North Central Region
09/05/2025
After growing up showing cattle and earning a degree in agriculture business and supply from Lake Land College, Buckley returned home and purchased her cattle farm on March 15, 2023. She bought the 9-acre cattle farm, which included a house and garage, a show barn and three other small sheds. Buckley made this purchase through the Farm Service Agency’s Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loan.
AgDaily: Oregon farmland program pushes back against urban pressures
By Tahja Sims | Portland, OR | Pacific Region
09/09/2025
For 75 years, the Oregon East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District in the Portland area has been in front of protecting soil and water resources for existing and new generations. Much of this work is done through the Land Legacy Program, which sets out to purchase farmland conservation easements or become interim landowners in an effort to put a conservation easement on the land before it is handed to the next generation.
The Daily Sentinel: Denver Water supports push by state delegation in Congress for Shoshone, other water funds
By Dennis Webb | Colorado | Southwest Region
09/10/2025
In the waning days of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Reclamation announced the Shoshone funding and tens of millions of dollars of funding for other water projects in the state. Among the other projects are about $25.6 million for drought mitigation in southwest Colorado, about $24.3 million for the Grand Mesa and Upper Gunnison watershed resiliency and aquatic connectivity project, $4.6 million for the Mesa Conservation District and Colorado West Land Trust to work on drought resiliency on local conserved lands, and $2.8 million for the Fruita Reservoir Dam removal project on Piñon Mesa.
Pune Media: How the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative has fostered two decades of conservation in the checkerboard
By Emma Dietrich and Patrick Anderson | Wyoming | Southwest Region
09/11/2025
Encampment-Rawlins Conservation District and Wyoming Game and Fish Department performed a number of river restoration projects along the North Platte and Encampment Rivers, including replacing old irrigation structures with new ones that allow for fish passage and improve sediment transport throughout the watershed.