NACD is now accepting nominations for two annual service awards: the Distinguished Service Award and the Friend of Conservation Award!

These awards recognize individuals and organizations for their outstanding work and leadership in soil and water conservation. Winners will be honored at the NACD Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the Appreciation Banquet on Tuesday, February 9, 2027. Each recipient will receive one complimentary registration to the meeting, two complimentary tickets to the Appreciation Banquet, and a plaque. They will also be recognized in NACD publications and on the association’s website.

The NACD Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual within a conservation district, a state association, or NACD that has made outstanding contributions to the conservation and proper management of our nation’s natural resources. Nominees are individuals involved with districts or the association at any level—board members or staff and can be nominated posthumously. Nominations are accepted from any individual, organization, agency, or conservation district.

The NACD Friend of Conservation Award recognizes an individual, business, organization, or agency outside the association/conservation district family for outstanding contributions to the conservation of our nation’s natural resources. Any individual, business, organization, or agency that is not directly associated with conservation districts at the local, state, or national level is eligible to receive this award. Nominations are accepted from any individual, organization, agency, or conservation district.

To nominate someone, please visit the NACD Awards webpage to submit a nomination using the online nomination forms. The deadline to submit your nomination is August 31, 2026.

To view past NACD award recipients, please visit the NACD Awards Archive. Contact awards@nacdnet.org with any questions.

JOIN LOCAL LEADERS AT YOUR NACD REGION MEETING

NACD region meetings give conservation district leaders, members, and partners a time and place to discuss their most pressing concerns and share their most valuable insights. Find out about upcoming NACD region meetings below!

Northeast Region

Registration is now open for the Northeast Region Meeting! The meeting will be August 24-27 in Wilmington, DE. Register before July 1 to receive the early bird discount.

The Northeast Region's annual Capacity Building Event will be held on Thursday, August 27, from 8-12 a.m. to strategize on regional conservation capacity and growth strategy.

The meeting will also feature a "Management Excellence for Conservation Partners" track. This training track will take place throughout the meeting and is great for district management positions.

Find all information for the meeting here.

Pacific & Southwest

Join the Pacific and Southwest Regions in Guam for the 2026 Joint Regional Meeting, Currents of Conservation: Navigating Soil and Water Stewardship, August 24-28.

Registration, flight, and hotel information can be found here. The meeting will be held over four days and includes multiple tracks for breakout sessions to tailor the learning to your needs, as well as tours of both Northern and Southern Guam. Guam is also requesting submissions for presentation abstracts to host a breakout session; the submission deadline is June 22.

Southeast

The 2026 Southeast Region Meeting, hosted by the North Carolina Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts, will be held on August 9-12 in Cherokee, NC.

Join conservation leaders from across the Southeast to explore Conservation 2.0: Honoring Our Past and Securing Our Future. This gathering will celebrate the legacy of conservation while focusing on innovative partnerships, leadership, and solutions that will shape the future of natural resource conservation across the region. Hosted by the North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in partnership with the North Carolina Division of Soil and Water Conservation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the North Carolina Conservation District Employees Association, this event brings together conservation district supervisors, staff, and partners to exchange ideas, highlight successful programs, and strengthen regional partnerships.

Attendees can expect a robust agenda featuring training opportunities, policy discussions, and updates from state and national leadership, along with opportunities to showcase innovative work happening across the region. See the full meeting agenda here.

Learn more about the meeting in this flyer and register here.

WHAT'S UP IN WASHINGTON?

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS UPDATE

Congress is ready for business after last week’s recess, with several appropriations and oversight hearings scheduled this week. Relevant hearing links are included below.

This afternoon, at 4 p.m. ET, the House Rules Committee meets on H.R. 8646, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2027. 

Tomorrow, at 11 a.m. ET, the House Appropriations Committee will hold a markup of the FY27 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill and the FY27 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies bill. 

At 2 p.m. ET, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative hearing on various bills, including H.R. 8904, a measure to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

On June 4, at 10 a.m. ET, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins will testify before the House Agriculture Committee, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a markup of the Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA; Legislative Branch; and Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations acts.

At 10:15 a.m., the House Natural Resources subcommittee on federal lands will hold an oversight hearing, “The State of Our Nation’s Federal Forests and Outlook for the 2026 Wildfire Year.”

AGROFORESTRY WORKSHOP BRINGS CONSERVATION PROFESSIONALS INTO THE FIELD

From May 5-7, 2026, NACD, in partnership with the USDA National Agroforestry Center and the California Agroforestry Network, hosted the San Diego Agroforestry Workshop for Natural Resources Professionals in Encinitas, California. The training brought together resource conservation district staff, conservation professionals, technical service providers, nonprofit staff, producers, and agency partners for several days, focused on what agroforestry implementation looks like in Southern California landscapes and the relationships and local networks necessary to successfully support this work long-term.

Hosted at a regenerative farm and community agriculture space in the greater San Diego area, the workshop combined classroom discussion with field-based learning and direct producer engagement. Participants toured active production areas while discussing how agroforestry practices can support soil health, biodiversity, water conservation, and long-term resilience in working agricultural systems. Conversations throughout the week focused on how practices like multistory cropping, hedgerows, prescribed grazing, and other conservation-focused approaches are being adapted to Southern California’s dryland and Mediterranean climate conditions.

The field portion of the workshop gave participants the opportunity to spend time directly with producers implementing agroforestry and regenerative management practices on working farms. Discussions moved beyond introductory concepts and into the realities of establishment challenges, long-term management decisions, balancing conservation goals with operational needs, and what implementation looks like from a producer perspective. Participants also spent considerable time discussing barriers that continue to affect adoption, including funding limitations, staff capacity, planning time, and the complexity of implementing agroforestry systems within existing operations and conservation programs.

One of the strongest themes throughout the workshop was the value of bringing people together across different parts of the conservation and agricultural community. Participants consistently highlighted peer discussion and networking as one of the most valuable aspects of the training, alongside the opportunity to get into the field and see different systems firsthand. Conversations regularly connected federal, state, and local perspectives with the producer perspective, helping participants better understand both the opportunities and the practical realities landowners are navigating when considering agroforestry implementation.