This week is NACD's Stewardship Week! We are celebrating the 70th Annual Stewardship Week and the theme “Home is Where The Habitat Is” through Sunday, May 4. This theme focuses on protecting and restoring native and managed habitats across the U.S. and its territories.

Throughout Stewardship Week, conservation districts across the United States are invited to participate in various ways to celebrate and promote these vital natural resources. Conservation districts play a central role in outreach and education, engaging with their communities through the NACD annual poster and photo contests, by hosting field days or educating students in their classrooms, and more.

If you would like to get involved with NACD Stewardship Week, it's not too late! You can find an array of free educational materials here to share with students and educators around you or participate virtually through social media with our toolkit of habitat posts and captions. Be sure to tag @NACDconserve and #NACDStewardshipWeek on all your posts throughout the week!

CONSERVATION DISTRICTS CELEBRATE HABITATS THROUGH EDUCATION EFFORTS

Across the country, conservation district professionals are spreading the word about habitats through classroom visits, field days, friendly competitions, and more!

In Minnesota, the Sherburne Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff have been visiting classrooms to teach the next generation about different types of habitats! Recently, district educators, Fanny Gerde and Andie Bumgarner, shared with the 5th graders, pictured above, what animals they can find in their local habitats.

In South Carolina, conservation districts are partnering with the SC Department of Natural Resources to host a statewide "Home is Where the Habitat is" themed field day! Hosted at the Belfast Wildlife Management Area, the event features stations where landowners, commissioners, and the public at large will rotate around to learn about wildlife management habitat on their property.

The Lancaster SWCD honored Stewardship Week by donating copies of Jack's Garden, a habitat-focused children's book, to their local libraries!

In Guam, the Southern Guam SWCD recently launched the Guam Educators Conservation Summit with the Center for Island Sustainability Conference to train local educators. Educators from public, charter, and Catholic schools attending will earn three graduate credits and develop conservation lesson plans.

"We're going to be conducting a weeklong symposium there with educators from the southern schools," said District Chairman Michael Aguon. "We'll train them in how to bring conservation practices to their classrooms."

Educational efforts like this are happening all around the country this week, and year-round, in support of Stewardship Week. If you have any classroom success stories to share, please email us at stewardship@nacdnet.org or tag us @nacdconserve on social media.  

STUDENTS SHOW OFF THEIR CREATIVITY THROUGH POSTERS

Around the country, students are breaking out their crayons, markers, and even glitter pens to craft posters showing the meaning of "Home is Where the Habitat is."

The Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association recently had their Annual Conference attendees vote for their favorite posters to crown the statewide winners! Congratulations to these, and all the young artists around the country, for their hard work on these posters. The creativity of these students is inspiring!

State associations - please submit your state winners to the national contest through the State to National Entry Form. National winners will receive recognition at NACD’s next annual meeting. Learn more about the poster contest on NACD's website.

SUPPORT CONSERVATION EDUCATION FURTHER WITH A DONATION TO NCF

If you'd like to take your support of conservation education to the next level, make a donation to the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) during tomorrow's Day of Giving!

Your generous donations will directly contribute to conservation education through the training of the NGLI cohort, who are actively working to solve future conservation needs, or to the Envirothon students, who are currently studying natural resources and prepping for their local competitions.

In celebration of Stewardship Week, make your contribution to conservation education go further with a donation!

WHAT'S UP IN WASHINGTON?

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS UPDATE

Last week, NACD submitted comments on EPA’s “WOTUS Notice: The Final Response to SCOTUS.” EPA requested feedback on how to define terms like “relatively permanent” and “jurisdictional waters” and to highlight any additional changes that may help with implementation. The comments focused on the need for consistency and clarity in any definitions and jurisdictional determinations and encouraged EPA to utilize local knowledge and resources and to collaborate with impacted local communities before making any final determinations.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently published a proposal to rescind the definition of “harm” from the Endangered Species Act, stating “the existing regulatory definition of ‘harm,’ which includes habitat modification, runs contrary to the best meaning of the statutory term ‘take’.” NACD will be providing comments but encourages anyone interested to submit their own individual comments, due May 19, 2025.

The Agriculture Marketing Service will hold a series of virtual meetings of the National Organic Standards Board this week, from April 29 to May 1, to vote on proposed recommendations to the Agriculture Department, hear from the National Organic Program on issues relevant to organic agriculture, and receive comments from the public. The meetings will begin at 12:00 p.m. ET. Register here.

On Wednesday, April 30, at 9:30 a.m. ET the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will meet to consider the nominations of multiple positions, including Andrea Travnicek for Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Water, and Science, Leslie Beyer to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Lands and Minerals Management, and Theodore Garrish to be Assistant Secretary of Energy, Nuclear Energy. A livestream will be available on the committee’s website, found here. 

Also on Wednesday, April 30, at 10:00 a.m. ET, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing titled “Building on the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] IIJA’s Successes: Identifying Opportunities to Strengthen Water Infrastructure Programs.” A livestream will be available on the committee’s website, found here.