Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
August 17, 2016
Conservation Update

August 4 - August 17, 2016
 

IASWCD News
Do you know someone who would benefit 
from having a Trade Show Booth space 
to exhibit at the Annual SWCD Conference in January?

Early Bird registration is now available online for  all  exhibitors wanting to participate  on January 23-24, 2017. 
 
Print out the reservation form here. This form includes prices, add-ons available and all details needed to reserve a space. Or, they can go online and fill out the new online Google Reservation Form

Early bird rates end on October 7 - after that date, prices to reserve a booth will increase. 

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Three Upcoming Conservation Awards 
applications due by September 9
Recognizes individuals or entities who have made an outstanding contribution to soil and water conservation in Indiana. Categories for the Friend of Conservation Award are:  Corporate, Individual, and Nonprofit/Government.  One winner from each category will be recognized. The winners will be recognized at the Annual Conference of Indiana SWCDs' Conservation Award Banquet.

Honors Hoosier farmers who actively incorporate and practice conservation on the land. One Indiana farmer will be honored as the top conservation-minded producer in the Hoosier state. The winner will be recognized at the Annual Conference of Indiana SWCDs' Conservation Award Banquet.

Honors Soil and Water Conservation District leaders "supervisors" for their outstanding and exemplary achievements and leadership in the protection and enhancement of Indiana's soil and water resources. An overall state winner will be recognized at the Annual Conference of Indiana SWCDs' Conservation Award Banquet.
NACD News  
Nominations for NACD's  Distinguished Service Award  and  Friend of Conservation Award  will be accepted now through  August 31, 2016 .
NACD awards are great opportunities for our members to give the top
conserv ation leaders in the nation the recognition they deserve! You ca n nominate an  individual, business, agency, or organization for their outst anding  work and leadershi p in natural resources conservation. The winners of the awa rds will be featured in several NACD publications and asked to attend a special ceremony held in their honor at NACD's 2017 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, on  January 31, 2017 Nominations for the 2016 awards may be submitted by an individual, organization, agency, or conservation district. For nomination forms and more information,  click here .  

Envirothon
Toronto team takes top honors at 2016 Envirothon
Last week, more than 250 high school students from 53 teams across three different countries gathered in Peterborough, Ontario, for the 2016 North American Envirothon, an event put on by the National Conservation Foundation. Competitors from the United States and Canada - and a guest team from China - traveled to Trent University to show off their teamwork, presentation, and critical thinking skills, along with their expertise in five environmental science and natural resources management topics: forestry, aquatics, soils/land use, wildlife, and invasive species.
Smithfield Foods, the world's leading pork producer and supplier, awarded a total of $30,000 in cash prizes to students on the top three winning teams: University of Toronto Schools, Ontario (1st place); Penncrest High School, Pennsylvania (2nd); and Palisades Charter High School, California (3rd). To learn more about this year's Envirothon competition and to see a list of the top ten scoring teams, check out this  NACD press release.

Indiana Envirothon - District Information Needed
Please email Luanne Holeva (luanne.holeva@in.nacdnet.net) with any updates to district mailing addresses that have changed over the last year. She needs current:
  • District mailing address
  • Local high school addresses (or person(s) to contact)
  • Local Extension office mailing address
  • Other contacts that might be interested in participating (high school age only) - i.e. home school groups, scouting groups, special interest groups, etc.
NRCS News
Range and Pasture Information
The August newsletter of "Grazing Bites" has been published and posted at the NRCS website. Check here for the latest on Grazing including articles, worksheets, tools, news and notes and publications

Eastern Native Grass Symposium (ENGS)
At the request of State Agronomist, Vic Shelton, the Eastern Native Grass Symposium planning committee would like to encourage each of the districts to consider "sponsoring" one - three producers from your county to attend the highly anticipated Symposium on August 29-31.  It is the first time in Symposium history that this event is being held in Indiana and the committee would like to see a high attendance from Indiana landowners and producers at this event in Evansville.
Well known keynote speakers, hot topics and vendors are already lined up as part of the Symposium ( see highlight of speakers here) so please consider reaching out to your county and feel free to share the ENGS brochure.  

Partner News
Supervisor Summit & Staff Summit
DEADLINE TO REGISTER NOW EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, AUGUST 18
August 23 - 9:30 am to 3:30 pm
Hendricks County Fairgrounds, Danville, IN
Supervisors register at:    https://supervisorsummit2016.eventbrite.com

The Nature Conservancy
INDIANA, NATURALLY: CHILDREN'S DIVISION  
A Nature Photography Contest
The Arts Council of Indianapolis and The Nature Conservancy/Indiana invite children ages 5-12 from across Indiana to submit photographs highlighting the natural beauty of Indiana, to be selected for display at the Indianapolis Artsgarden in January 2017. For more information go to The Nature Conservancy website. Deadline for submission: September 16.

Indiana and the Gulf of Mexico: the Dolphin Connection
The Indianapolis Zoo recently unveiled a new video for their popular dolphin presentation. In the video, viewers see the connection between farms in Indiana, the dolphins, and the dead zone in the Gulf-an area where marine life can't live because there's not enough oxygen in the water. So how do we get from Indiana all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico? Learn more about the connection at The Nature Conservancy website. 

Indiana Conservation Alliance (INCA) 
INCA's Conservation Congress
Cost: $25 per person
When: Friday, September 30th
Where: Abe Martin Lodge, Brown County State Park
Why: Indiana's Future Depends on It

The Indiana Conservation Alliance (INCA) was formed in 2003 to attract increased and permanent funding for land, water, and wildlife conservation in Indiana.
INCA co-chair John Ulmer of Zionsville said, "We have over two dozen organizations in Indiana that support this initiative and will be participating in the Congress; we hope it will attract more individuals and organizations that share the same goals." The Alliance meets before every session of the Indiana General Assembly to set its legislative priorities for conservation.  Tentative speakers include noted Indiana conservationist Bill McCoy of Patoka Wildlife Refuge and Steve Byers and Nancy Williamson of the Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois on how to build an effective coalition. DNR Director Cameron Clark has been invited to speak and the Congress will include break out and plenary sessions and feature recent conservation initiatives around the state.  Seating is limited.    CLICK HERE t o register for the Congress now.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Partners in Community Forestry Conference
November 16-17
Indianapolis Marriott Downtown
Conference details including the agenda, click here

Purdue College of Agriculture
Distinguished Ag Alumni (DAA) & Certificate of Distinction (CD)
The College of Agriculture and the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association invite you to submit nominations for their 2017 awards programs. There are two major awards that encompass all of their disciplines: the College's Distinguished Agricultural Alumni (DAA) and the Ag Alumni Association's Certificate of Distinction (CD).  The specific information and criteria for these two awards is summarized here Nomination Deadline: 8:00 am September 12, 2016
Resources
Ron Culberson, Author & Speaker,  Do It Well. Make it Fun.
"It's All in Your Head...Sort Of"
Part 1 - Doing Stress Well
In Part 1 of this two part article on stress management, Ron Culberson, MSW, CSP, keynote speaker at the Power of Us all employee meeting in May, shares how understanding the stress process can help us manage and cope better. Read full article here.
Other News
Kankakee River now a National Water Trail
The National Park Service and the Department of Interior conferred the status of the Kankakee River as a National Water Trail in June. The Kankakee now appears on a federal website with just 19 other National Water Trails (nps.gov/watertrails). The next closest ones are the Huron River passing through Detroit, the Rock River in northwest Illinois, the Mississippi River through St. Louis and the Miami River watershed through Dayton, Ohio. Read full article in the South Bend Tribune .


Living Lands & Waters 
Shout Out to all those who helped with the LL&W Crew cleanup! From the Crew, "We  want to extend our biggest THANK YOUS for coming out to our cleanups, and spreading the word! We thank all volunteers, individuals who forwarded our message along, and Tanners Creek Boat Landing for allowing us to stay! You brought out a great group of 57 volunteers to 6 cleanups! In those 6 community cleanups, we were able to remove 9,790.25 pounds of garbage! Adding community cleanups to our excavator cleanups, we removed a grand total of  24,639.75 pounds of garbage,  during LL&W's 1 week stay in Lawrenceburg!"  

They are still hosting Ohio River cleanups in Rising Sun, Patriot and Madison, Indiana. See website for more information: http://livinglandsandwaters.org/2016-ohio-river-cleanups/


Farm Foundation 
Farmers Needed! Seeking Indiana farmers to be part of a study of the economic costs and benefits of cover crops. Farm Foundation and Purdue University are collaborating on this three-year study, which is targeting farms in 37 counties of Indiana. 

"Farmers tell us that one of the biggest reasons why they don't adopt conservation practices is the lack of credible information about the economics of these practices," states Purdue University Economist Wally Tyner, who is leading the three-year project. "We are seeking farmers to help us gather the data needed so we can compare economics of systems with and without cover crops," he adds.  

To participate, a farming operation must be in one of the following 37 Central or Northeast Indiana counties: Adams, Allen (western), Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Clinton, Decatur, DeKalb, Delaware, Fayette, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jay, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Miami, Montgomery, Morgan, Noble, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Wabash, Wayne, Wells, and Whitley. 

For more details and contact information,  click here


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In This Issue
Quick Links
Upcoming Events
Please refer to the IASWCD Events and CCSI Soil Health Events calendars for a full list of upcoming events. 

Here are just a few highlighted below:

August 19 - "Communication" Cornerstone: Leadership Institute Workshop

August 20 - Pasture Field Day, Dearborn SWCD

August 23 - SW, Green  Pasture Field Day (Holland)

August 23 - Marshall SWCD field day

August 23 - Supervisor & Staff Summit

August 25 - NW, Pre/Post Harvest Workshop 


August 29-31 - Eastern Native Grass Symposium

August 30-Sept. 1 - "In Depth" Soil Health Training

September 7 - Forage Management Workshop

September 17 - Woodland Owner Workshop, Clark County SWCD

September 30 - INCA 1st Conservation Congress

October 5-7 - IDEA Fall Conference

October 26 - SE, Two Stage Ditch Workshop (Posey & Vanderburgh SWCD)

November 16-17 - Partners in Community Forestry Conference

January 23-24 - SWCD Annual Conference, Indianapolis

January 28-February 2 - NACD Annual Meeting
Current Job Openings *

District Conservation Technician , Pike & Gibson County - Deadline August 24

Resource District Conservationist, Hendricks County - Deadline August 26

See Job Descriptions and/or Applications at www.IASWCD.org

*(Note: please submit job openings to: 
amy-work@iaswcd.org  and include instructions for applying, deadline and job description in a single PDF file. Thank you.)
Upcoming Award Reminders

Conservation Farmer of the Year - deadline September 9


 
Friend of Conservation

- deadline September 9

 

Supervisor of the Year 

- deadline September 9

Special Thank You to the 82 Districts who have Paid Annual Dues as of 08/16/16:
  Adams
Allen
Bartholomew
Benton
Blackford
Brown
Carroll
Cass
Clark
Clay
Clinton
Crawford
Daviess
Dearborn
Decatur
DeKalb
Delaware
Dubois
Elkhart
Floyd
Fountain
Franklin
Fulton
Gibson
Grant
Greene
Hamilton
Harrison
Henry
Howard
Jackson
Jasper
Jay
Jefferson
Jennings
Johnson
Kosciusko
Knox
LaGrange
Lake
LaPorte
Lawrence
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Miami
Monroe
Morgan
Newton
Noble
Orange
Owen
Perry
Pike
Porter
Posey
Pulaski
Putnam
Randolph
Ripley
Rush
Scott
Shelby
Spencer
St. Joseph
Starke
Steuben
Sullivan
Switzerland
Tippecanoe
Tipton
Union
Vanderburgh
Vermilliion
Wabash
Warren
Warrick
Washington
Wayne
Wells
White
Whitley