Campbell County Conservation District
(CD) is partnering with the Wyoming State Forestry Division and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to address two key issues: thinning forests to make stands more resilient to insects and diseases, such as the mountain pine beetle, and reducing fuel loads to restrict wildfire damage and improve wildlife habitat.
“When we collaborate, we’re able to manage these larger landscapes so when a fire comes through – when it gets to the area with less ladder fuel – it will lay down and will be closer to the ground,” Campbell County Conservation District Manager
Jennifer Hinkhouse said
.
In 2015, the conservation district began talking with Wyoming State Forestry Division, Wyoming Game and Fish and the BLM about projects the district was working on to explore partnership opportunities. Campbell County CD received funding through a state appropriation administered by the State Forestry Division to conduct management in beetle infested areas or in areas that had a high potential for infestation.
“Most people forget about the forests in Campbell County since they are about an hour drive from town,”
Hinkhouse said
. “Many of the forests have not received any thinning or harvest in the past 30 years and were in need of management. With the help of state funding and assistance of partners, we were able to put forest conservation on the ground.”
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D
istricts Help Enhance Wildlife Habitat
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Successful management of wildlife habitat often requires engagement from multi-jurisdictional landowners and a vision toward the future of our forest lands. Conservation districts have proven successful in bringing diverse stakeholders to the table and helping the public to see the value of investing in habitat efforts.
And habitat is a priority for many districts around the country. Based on data collected from NACD’s 2015 comprehensive forestry survey, 51.04 percent of respondents selected ‘wildlife enhancement’ among the forest health issues and productivity concerns directly affecting their conservation district.
Conservation districts in a number of states invite wildlife partners to attend and present at annual meetings, and numerous districts organize workshops and field tours to educate the general public on wildlife habitat...
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Mississippi conservation districts are working with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) to educate youth and encourage conservation measures and interest in wildlife habitat management.
NWTF has helped conservation districts organize conservation and hunting field days geared toward youth in Stone, Jackson, George, Harrison, Hancock and Pearl River Counties.
“This gives us a good opportunity to work with youth, but it also helps develop relationships with conservation district board members so they know we’re here and what we do,” NWTF District Biologist-Mississippi
Kacie Bauman said
. “If they’re talking to someone who needs a habitat plan or technical assistance or a wide range of things dealing with conservation, they can reach out to us to provide help.
“For the youth, it is key to have that connection with conservation districts, because we don’t have the potential for that type of outreach,”
she said
.
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Pennsylvania
District organizes volunteer tree planting
“This will be a forest 10 years from now,” Perry County Conservation District Water Specialist
Kristie Smith
told
the Perry County Times. “These trees will be over our head, and it’ll be awesome.”
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Maine
Workshop explores ways to enhance songbird habitat
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Oregon
District helps fund forest field day for area
third-graders
At a wildlife tracks and signs station, students were able to get a glimpse of forest ecology while they hiked the loop trail, looking at the different animals that live there. At the bird station, students learn about their habitat and get to use binoculars to see what they can find.
“What’s really been great is the last couple of years, we have been getting grant money from Oregon State Extension and the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District,” third-grade teacher
Molly Bell told the Philomath Express. “We haven’t had to pay anything for the field trip the past two years and that’s been awesome.”
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Add your conservation district's tree sale, state association meeting, field day or celebration to NACD's calendar!
Click the button above to submit an event. Events will be reviewed by the website administrator and published to
NACD's online calendar when approved.
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