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Conservation INsight
May 9, 2018
IASWCD News
River Friendly Farmer
Nominations now open for the River Friendly Farmer Award. Annually, each county Soil and Water Conservation District may nominate up to two farmers who do an outstanding job of protecting their rivers, lakes and streams through their every day conservation management practices on the farm. Watershed organizations also may nominate farmers for the award by submitting an application to a county SWCD. The 2018 River Friendly Farmer Award Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, August 15, 2018 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Nomination forms and more information can be found on IASWCD website/River Friendly Farmer page . Deadline to receive nominations: June 15, 2018.
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Pathway 2012
Pathway to Water Quality (PWQ) Volunteer Sign Up
General registration for volunteering at Pathway to Water Quality during the Indiana State Fair will begin June 1. For groups wanting to cover a full day of volunteering, registration is May 1-26. Please see details regarding volunteer registration  here . The Indiana State Fair takes place August 3-19, 2018.

NACD News
Submit Theme Ideas for Conference
NACD’s 2019 Annual Meeting is fast approaching. Held Feb. 2 – 6in San Antonio, Texas, the 73rd Annual Meeting will join together leaders in conservation from across the nation – but we need your help!  Please submit your ideas  for a theme and corresponding logo for the 2019 Annual Meeting by Thursday, May 17. If your concept wins, you are eligible to receive a full registration to the 73rd Annual Meeting!
NACD interview with KFAF
NACD’s Forestry Specialist Mike Beacom sat down with Keeping Forests as Forests (KFAF) Project Coordinator Scott Davisfor a Q&A. Together, the two discussed the most astounding threats facing the future of forestry and how KFAF and conservation districts can work to mitigate them.
“It’s time to move away from thinking about our forests as particular places on the landscape and reframe the conversation around the inherent social, biological and economic values that functional forests represent to people today and in the future,” Davis said.  Click here  to read the full interview.
Letter to support full baseline funding for the Conservation Title in the next Farm Bill. Read more ...
IDEA News
Save the Date! 2018 IDEA Fall Conference
October 2-4, 2018
ISDA News
Grants Management Workshops
May 22 & June 7
This workshop will help with grant management for the grants that SWCDs commonly interact with including skill building applicable to other grants. Program staff will be on hand with time for questions and discussion. Two locations and two dates.  More information ...
Quickbooks Training
Wednesday, June 13
10 am to 3 pm (EDT)
Jackson County Public Library, Seymour, IN
Cost: $25 (lunch not included) 
Questions?: Please contact  Laura Fribley,  ISDA District Support Specialist 
IDEM News
Section 319(h) Solicitation
The solicitation for applications for FFY 2019 Section 319 grant funds began April 1, 2018. Notice of Intent (NOI) emails for the FFY 2019 grant solicitation are due  June 1, 2018 .   More information ...
USDA-NRCS News
INDIANAPOLIS (April 25, 2018) – Indiana farmers planted 970,000 acres of cover crops in 2017, according to a recent  survey . Cover crops are now the third-most planted crop in the state, next to corn and soybeans.
“With the late harvest and heavy rains farmers experienced last fall, seeing close to one million acres of cover crops growing is no small accomplishment and worth celebrating,” said Jill Reinhart, acting state conservationist for Indiana’s Natural Resources Conservation Service ( NRCS ).  “ This year’s data shows that Indiana once again sets the bar, nationally, when it comes to incorporating conservation on the farm.” Read more ...

Purdue Extension News
Spring 2018 Purdue Rainscaping Workshops in Steuben and Lake Counties
Purdue Rainscaping workshops are for   Purdue Master Gardeners, Members of conservation agencies and organizations, Stormwater professionals, and Landscape professionals and consultants.  Registration for the workshops  can be found  here  or call the Purdue Education Store at 765-494-6794.
Other News
Midwest Cover Crops Field Scout mobile app for cell phones and tablets
The  Midwest Cover Crops Council  (MCCC) has reformatted its popular field guide to create the Midwest Cover Crops Field Scout mobile app for cellphones and tablets. The app allows farmers, crop advisers and conservation professionals to access vital cover crop information from mobile devices. Read more ...
Xerces Society
The Indianapolis Zoo: Summer Learning for Educators
An Educator’s Adventure to Costa Rica: A Showcase of Conservation  
July 11-19, 2018 More information ...
Conservation Educator Academy – Sharing One World  
June 25-28 More information ...
2018 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour
Registration is open for the Conservation Technology Information Center’s 2018 Conservation in Action Tour, held July 10-11 in Annapolis, Md. Details of the tour and registration information.
Call for Proposals for 45th Natural Areas Conference
Deadline for proposals is May 18.
Conference is October 23-25, 2018.
Combating Invasive Species CALL OUT MEETING: Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas
CISMAs are a grassroots group of partners from many organizations with a common goal of pooling resources and knowledge to help address mutual invasive species issues. Below is a list of upcoming CISMA callout dates and counties. Click on the county name for more information.
( Photo: Fall Creek, a tributary to the Big Pine; Photo Credit: Seth Harden, The Nature Conservancy)
Big Pine Creek Watershed Project
The partners of the Big Pine Creek Watershed Project invite area farmers to a Building a Competitive Advantage with Conservation event on June 1 from 8 a.m. (ET) to 1 p.m. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. and a hot lunch is included. Ceres Solutions Cooperative, along with other local and state agricultural organizations, will be onsite to demonstrate and discuss strategies to build your conservation practices within your operation. Read more ...
Thank you to the 56 Indiana Soil & Water Conservation Districts for their payment of membership dues to IASWCD:
Adams
Allen
Bartholomew
Benton
Blackford
Brown
Carroll
Cass
Clark
Clinton
Daviess
Dearborn
Decatur
DeKalb
Delaware
Dubois
Elkhart
Franklin
Fulton
Hamilton
Hendricks
Howard
Huntington
Jackson
Jasper
Jay
Knox
Kosciusko
LaGrange
LaPorte
Lawrence
Marshall
Miami
Morgan
Newton
Orange
Perry
Pike
Posey
Pulaski
Putnam
Randolph
Ripley
Shelby
St. Joseph
Steuben
Sullivan
Tipton
Union
Vanderburgh
Warren
Warrick
Washington
Wayne
White
Whitley
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Job Postings  :
Current list of Conservation Job Opportunities now posted on the  IASWCD website.
  • Special Projects Director, SWCS
  • Conservation Technician and Outreach Assistant, Hamilton County SWCD
  • Executive Director, Wesselman Woods Nature Society
Note: Job Postings can be submitted to Amy Work at:  amy-work@iaswcd.org .  Please include job description and deadline to apply in a single PDF file or with a link.
Upcoming Conservation Events  :
May 15 - SSCB Meeting, Knox County
May 15-16 - Purdue Rainscaping Workshop
May 16 - Urban Soil Health Workshop, Warrick Co.
May 21-22 - Purdue Rainscaping Workshop
May 22- Grants Management Workshop
May 28 - Memorial Day
June 1 - Registration open, Pathway to Water Quality
June 7 - Grants Management Workshop
June 12 - Native Plant Stewardship Class, Brown Co.
June 15 - Hoosier Chapter SWCS meeting, Indianapolis
June 15 - River Friendly Farmer Award Applications due 
June 19-20  -  Purdue Rainscaping Workshop
June 26 - Native Plant Stewardship Class, Brown Co.
July 10 - Native Plant Stewardship Class, Brown Co.
July 19 - Agronomy Field Day, Steuben County
July 24 - SSCB Meeting, NRCS, Indianapolis
August 2-8 - NACD Summer Meeting
August 3-19 - Indiana State Fair
August 7 - Native Plant Stewardship Class, Brown Co.
August 15 - River Friendly Farmer Awards Ceremony
August 21 - Native Plant Stewardship Class, Brown Co.
August 28 - Leadership Institute
September 28 - SSCB Meeting, NRCS, Indianapolis
October 2-4 - IDEA Fall Conference, Bloomington, IN
October 30 - SSCB Meeting, TBD
November 30 - Leadership Institute
December 7 - Leadership Institute
For a complete list of upcoming conservation events,  go to the Events Calendar on the IASWCD website .