Conservation Clip List for Thursday, November 9th, 2023
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.
Called cover crops, they top the list of tasks U.S. farmers are told will build healthy soil, help the environment and fight climate change. Yet after years of incentives and encouragement, Midwest farmers planted cover crops on only about 7% of their land in 2021.
On Nov.2, as part of the agency’s investment in climate-smart agriculture practices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Ducks Unlimited (DU) nearly $52 million to support projects with farmers, ranchers and landowners. Of that amount, $25 million will support the South Dakota Grasslands Initiative.
Extreme weather might be wreaking havoc across the globe, but some non-native plants and animals could be benefiting from the disasters, adding risk to already threatened local species, according to a new study Monday.
With interest in soil health growing across the food-production spectrum, finding ways to help soil improve is more critical than ever. Building soil organic matter — and thus soil carbon — is key, and growing cover crops is central to that process. Three cover crop growers shared what practices have helped build organic matter in their soils.
Napa County is drawing national and international interest as being an ideal place to measure greenhouse gas emissions and gauge local carbon-cutting efforts in real time. A local partner is the Napa County Resource Conservation District. (edited)
Earlier this year, the team from Lexington took first place at the 36th annual Massachusetts Envirothon, a state-wide competition where high school teams are tested on their knowledge of the environment. After some special studying sessions in the Envirothon focus areas—wildlife, aquatics, soils, and forestry—the Bay State teens traveled to New Brunswick to compete in the international challenge. The five-member team claimed first place out of fifty other groups from across the U.S., Canada, China, and Singapore.
The Snohomish Conservation District will collaborate with the cities of Everett, Marysville, and the Tulalip Tribes to develop urban forest management, monitoring, and maintenance plans. The district will add trees and provide long-term maintenance of urban tree canopy in its communities.
Foresters and staff members from Texas A&M Forest Service celebrated Texas Arbor Day on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, with school presentations, tree plantings and tree giveaways across the state. Over 9,600 tree seedlings were given to students, organizations and communities throughout the day.
After spotted lanternflies were first reported in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2014, there has been a concerted effort to get rid of the invasive species. According to The Guardian, while the insect is harmless to humans directly, they can damage trees and fruit crops. With many areas in the United States waging an “if you see it, stomp it” campaign against the winged menaces, one Pittsburgh resident could not believe a neighbor was seemingly breeding them in his backyard.
It seemed to be working; bees, flies and other insects bobbed and weaved among the petals. It was a veritable pollinator paradise. But what makes this meadow truly remarkable is its location: it’s growing (mostly) underneath solar panels. The 1.2-acre solar farm at the Arnold Arboretum’s Weld Hill research facility was one of the first “pollinator-friendly” solar farms built in Massachusetts.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over 60% of subsoil has short or very short moisture conditions, likely caused by the scattered showers throughout eastern Iowa at the end of the summer into the fall. This has led to a wide variety of yields.
Nearly $70 million in federal and state funding means the next three Odessa Subarea irrigation systems are fully funded, conservation and irrigation districts say. “This is huge, this is unprecedented,” said Kristina Ribellia, executive director of the Columbia Basin Conservation District (edited).
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