eResource-This Week's NACD News Briefs

NACD UPDATES ON 2018 FARM BILL IMPLEMENTATION

May 21, 2019

On May 15, NACD attended the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry hearing evaluating the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s conservation programs.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Chief Matt Lohr and Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Richard Fordyce testified before the subcommittee. Lohr and Fordyce provided updates on conservation program signups. For more details on these programs, read this blog summarizing the hearing , written by NACD Director of Government Affairs Coleman Garrison .

As USDA begins implementing the 2018 Farm Bill, multiple program application and comment deadlines are approaching:

June 3, 2019 – Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) applications and one-year extensions open
June 14, 2019 – Wetland Reserve Easement Partnership (WREP) proposals due
July 5, 2019 – Deadline to submit comments to NRCS on miscellaneous 2018 Farm Bill conservation provisions
July 25, 2019 – Applications for Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials due

As USDA continues to implement the 2018 Farm Bill, please visit NACD’s farm bill webpage to stay up-to-date on 2018 Farm Bill implementation, deadlines, sign-ups and more.

NACD SUMMER MEETING OFFERS THREE CONSERVATION-THEMED TOURS

NACD's Summer Conservation Forum and Tour is quickly approaching! The meeting features three conservation-themed tours on Tuesday, Aug. 6, from 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m .: A Journey through Time Tour; Home of the Coelophysis Tour; and Taos Historical/Cultural Tour. Learn more about the three tours on NACD’s summer meeting webpage and select your preferred tour when you register.

Don't forget to reserve your spot for NACD's Summer Conservation Forum and Tour, held in conjunction with the Southwest and Pacific Regions Meeting from Aug. 2-6, 2019, in Santa Fe, N.M.

Rooms are filling up fast and must be reserved by Friday, July 12, at either the Drury Plaza Hotel or the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza. Both hotels' room rate is $209 per night. To learn more and reserve a room, please visit NACD's summer meeting webpage.

WYOMING DISTRICT AND PARTNERS WORK TO REDUCE FUEL LOADS

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.”

Those funds led to forest stand improvement projects on private land in northern Campbell County. The conservation district worked with a private landowner, the state and BLM to coordinate efforts. The conservation district worked with BLM on areas to receive thinning where BLM had or was going to implement vegetative treatments on their adjacent property. They also coordinated with the state on performing vegetative treatments adjacent to timber sales and thinning projects on adjacent state lands. Once thinning was completed on these projects, the Campbell County CD conducted various slash treatments, which included lop and scatter, chipping and piling. For areas that had been piled, BLM worked with landowners to assist in burning in order to reduce fuel loads on the nearly 200 acres.

To read more of this blog and read similar stories, check out NACD's Foresty Notes .

SAVE THE DATE: KEYSTONE'S MONARCH COLLABORATIVE WEBINAR

Keystone Policy Center's Monarch Collaborative will present a webinar entitled "Why pollinator habitat makes sense on your land: Maximizing the potential of working acres," on May 28 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, as part of the Monarch Joint Ventures's annual webinar series.

The webinar will explore the economic benefits of promoting monarch butterflies and other beneficial insects, including practical ways to get started. Attendees can expect to learn ways to access the locally-specific resources they need to determine if establishing habitat makes sense on their land.

This webinar will be the first of two webinars with the Keystone Monarch Collaborative. The second will be held on July 23 and will dive into the trials and triumphs of those who have attempted to establish habitat plantings.

To register for this and other upcoming webinars, visit the Monarch Joint Venture's website.

NACD Offices Closed for Memorial Day

NACD's offices will be closed Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day to remember and honor those who have died serving in the United States Armed Forces.

At NACD, we support those who have served us. Check out Spokane Conservation District's Vets on the Farm program, highlighted in the Spring 2019 edition of The Resource and included in NACD's blog.

This program was designed to teach former U.S. military veterans agricultural practices through teaching sessions and technical assistance and has trained more than 200 veterans in the Spokane County alone.

Rhode Island Names Winning Team for NCF-Envirothon Competition

Congratulations to the Wheeler School team (pictured above with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) ) from Providence for winning the Rhode Island state Envirothon competition held May 17 at the University of Rhode Island's Gardner Crops Research Center in Kingstown.

The winning students will now go on to represent their school and state at the international NCF- Envirothon competition in Raleigh, N.C., from July 28-Aug. 2 .

Stay tuned to eResource for more team announcements, and please submit any Envirothon news and photos to NCF-Envirothon Program Manager Jennifer Brooks at Jennifer-Brooks@nacdnet.org .

NACD's Marketplace Catalog Now Available

Get ready for the summer season and check out NACD's Marketplace Catalog for this season's newly-added items and special summer offers on selected merchandise.

Keep the sun out of your eyes with Cabela's Washed Twill Cap, now only $6.99, or stay cool in the summer heat with an ultra lightweight shirt with moisture-wicking fabric and built-in sun protection for $29.99.

NACD Thanks Friend Ralston James

NACD would like to thank Ralston James for renewing his Friend of NACD membership.

James is a Central Region Coordinator with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and a dedicated volunteer at NACD's Annual Meetings.

Friends of NACD are individuals who are committed to the conservation of America’s natural resources. Show your appreciation for our nation’s 3,000 conservation districts by becoming a Friend today !

DOI Seeks Resource Advisory Council Nominations

The Department of the Interior (DOI) published in the Federal Register requesting public nominations for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s 31 statewide and regional Resource Advisory Councils located throughout the West.

DOI published a second notice requesting nominations on more site-specific BLM advisory councils. The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2019.

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