Pickin’ at the Park, a bluegrass music festival, was created to raise awareness of the Caesar Creek watershed and water quality. It was hosted by Warren, Greene, and Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), who provide leadership to the Caesar Creek Collaborative (CCC).

The CCC, whose mission is to improve and protect the water and soil quality in the Caesar Creek Lake and surrounding watershed, has members from local non-profits, governmental agencies, universities and colleges, local citizens, agricultural producers and other interested members from the Southwest Ohio area.

“The CCC has several priority areas including urban, suburban and rural areas in the watershed. Grant money will be available to groups like the CCC with one of the funding priorities set as agricultural best management practices (BMPs). Incorporating BMPs into agricultural operations can help agricultural producers with their operation and ultimately affect their bottom line of their business,” stated Molly Conley, director of Warren County SWCD.

Pickin’ at the Park included food trucks, music and displays and activities from CCC representatives. Warren County SWCD uses multiple educational tools to interact with the public, including “Dagmar the Dragonfly,” the Warren County SWCD education character ambassador. Dagmar engages community members of all ages on water quality issues. See what Dagmar has been up to in this video!

Local agricultural producers were also invited to participate to learn how area SWCDs can assist them in achieving farm production goals in the Caesar Creek watershed area.

“Just like Governor Mike DeWine set water quality as a top priority for Ohio, the CCC is focusing on water quality as an ongoing effort. We know that water quality improvements can make a difference when local efforts are paired with a larger scale vision. When water quality is analyzed on a watershed scale and collaborators come together, goals and targets can be aligned with larger downstream water bodies and change can really become effective,” said Conley.

These voluntary BMP projects allow producers and area residents to establish conservation practices on their property at little to no cost. Some of these projects might include reestablishing riparian corridors and wetlands, and building grassed waterways, filter buffers, filter strips, drainage water management structures and manure storage structures.

Read the full story on NACD’s blog and learn more at https://www.warrenswcd.com/.

For too long, noxious weeds have been left untended in Taos County, New Mexico. Taos Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) is leading an effort in partnership with the Taos County Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) to educate landowners about the harmful effects of these non-native infestations that are wreaking havoc on the local ecology.

Finance Manager and Noxious Weed Coordinator for Taos SWCD, Tanya Duncan, took advantage of working from home during COVID-19 by spending her time adding noxious weed specific webpages to the district’s website. Each webpage includes photos of the weed in different stages of growth, information on identification and control, and short weed-specific webinars recorded in partnership with Dr. Leslie Beck of New Mexico State University.

To spread the information, Duncan created QR codes for each of the webpages to use in outreach efforts. She designed educational signs that included the QR codes for different weeds and partnered with the Taos County CWMA to place the signs at various infestations sites around the county. The Town of Taos has these signs posted at one of their parks, a local land trust has the signs around their popular and well-used nature trails, Carson National Forest has signs posted at trailheads and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has signs posted at various campgrounds.

Recently, Taos SWCD invested in radio advertisements that direct landowners to their webpage. The district partnered with the CWMA and their local newspaper to publish monthly educational articles about different weeds. The QR codes are used in all media and have been very successful in directing people to the webpages.

The efforts of Taos SWCD and Taos County CWMA are generating positive results! Duncan receives many calls a day from landowners who saw the signs, read the articles, or heard the radio spots. They are reaching out for help identifying their own infestations and applying for noxious weed cost-share programs offered by the district.

To learn more, visit https://tswcd.org/noxious-weeds/.

Recently, Representatives Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Don Bacon (R-NE) and Bruce Westerman (R-AR), along with 25 original cosponsors, introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution recognizing and celebrating the 75th anniversary of the National Association of Conservation Districts to the House of Representatives. This resolution commemorates and highlights the work NACD has done and continues to do for our nation’s lands.

“Conservation districts are crucial for advancing natural resource conservation in their communities and across America’s landscapes,” NACD President Michael Crowder said. “For 75 years, NACD’s national leadership and representation have unified the locally-led conservation voice, promoting responsible management and conservation of natural resources on all lands through grassroots advocacy, education and partnerships.”

NACD is thankful to Representative Newhouse for his leadership and all the Senate and House cosponsors who have supported this resolution and NACD's mission.

Read the full text of the resolution here.

This edition features John Redding of Monroe, Georgia. Redding joined his local conservation board in 1978 and joined NACD's board in 1998 before being elected as treasurer the following year. He served as NACD's president from 2008 to 2009. Since 2012, Redding has served as treasurer of the National Conservation Foundation.

"I think the legacy of NACD is as a bridge builder," said Redding. "What we do best is we connect people that otherwise would not get connected. And I think that is critical for our future."

To watch Redding's interview, click the image above or watch it here. To view other videos in the series, visit NACD's YouTube channel.

For questions, please reach out to nacdnews@nacdnet.org.