NACD's Virtual Annual Meeting is less than two weeks away! There's still time to register for $50—don't miss out on an exciting agenda full of NACD updates, meetings and district recognition!

The 75th Annual Meeting, scheduled Feb. 1-10, 2021, will celebrate NACD's 75th Anniversary with the theme, "NACD's 75th Anniversary: A Diamond Out of the Dust."

With an exciting lineup of keynote speakers full of conservation leaders like U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Acting Chief Kevin Norton, we encourage you to submit any questions that you may have! With a virtual meeting, we hope you'll take the opportunity to "participate" throughout the meeting, including joining our officers for a coffee/social hour at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Feb. 10. View the full meeting agenda here.

Do you qualify for free registration? Conservation districts that have paid their dues at a platinum or diamond level this year are entitled to free registration as part of their membership benefits! Platinum level members may receive up to 10 free registrations, and Diamond level members can receive up to five free registrations! New Lifetime Members of Friends of NACD are also eligible for free registration. Please consider making a donation to the Friends of NACD program to qualify. Contact events@nacdnet.org with your name and email to begin processing.

Access speaker bios, breakout session descriptions and this year's reconfigured meeting agenda on NACD's virtual meeting hub.

We are again accepting applications for up to $50,000 to support projects that promote the delivery of conservation technical assistance in urban and community-oriented settings, including projects that serve rural populations. See the full RFP online, with applications due Feb. 15, 2021, 11:59 PM local time.

With over 100 example projects already completed or active in 34 states (see NACD’s UAC Story Map), conservation districts have provided technical assistance to urban and smallholder farmers on soil health, pollinators and biodiversity conservation, native plants, irrigation and water management, and a variety of other technical topics. 

For example, Jefferson County CD in Alabama demonstrated the use of high tunnels for the production of a variety of crops that were later sold at the local farmers market and used in culinary education programs at the local community college. Likewise, Fairbanks CD (FCD) in Alaska focused their grant on education and access to space to grow food; after surveying their local community on the barriers to local food production, FCD developed a 12-class agricultural curriculum to be administered with the support of the local community gardens.

While not a required aspect of the grants, many conservation districts have used their UAC grants to further develop their own programming related to underrepresented clients. Many grantees have addressed food security and sovereignty within their local communities, as well as supported minority farmers, migrant communities and others who may not have traditionally accessed conservation district programming. Potential UAC applicants are encouraged to read NACD’s Board Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity to understand our commitment to equitable programming.

Registration is free online, and any questions related to the event or the UAC grant may be directed to NACD Pacific Region Representative Ariel Rivers at ariel-rivers@nacdnet.org.

Last week, the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts (GACD) hosted a special virtual meeting for over 200 conservation district officials, employees and partners across the state. A presentation of the past year's accomplishments, an invocation and a memorial kicked off the meeting.

Woody Snell, GACD president and NACD alternate board member shared Georgia's recent conservation achievements and the challenges that have been overcome over the last five years. GACD Executive Director Katie Sponberger shared a review of the past year, noting the accomplishments of a variety of programs, including the Georgia Conservation District Initiative, which provides conservation districts with outreach and administrative assistance, a pollinators initiative that has installed pollinator gardens at over 52 schools and community sites, and a feral swine initiative that involves eight districts that offer control services in 46 counties.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and NACD Southeast Region Executive Board Member Gary Blair provided partner updates to participants. A number of participants were recognized with service awards, and the Broad River Conservation District was recognized as the 2020 District of the Year for their work, which includes feral swine control, poultry composting and a Field to Fork workshop that taught deer hunting basics and conservation. 

Additionally, Alan Toney, chair of the Fulton County Conservation District was inducted into GACD's Hall of Fame for his 26 years of service, and Mark Masters, a district official with the Lower Chattahoochee River Conservation District was recognized as 2020 Supervisor of the Year. Masters is also the newly elected president of GACD and a cohort member of the National Conservation Foundation (NCF)'s Next Generation Leadership Insitute.

The Pierce Conservation District (CD) in Washington is participating in a unique program that will establish urban forestry carbon credits for a county that is home to nearly a million people.

In a pilot program funded through a grant from the Boeing Company to non-profit carbon registry and certification organization City Forest Credits, the conservation district planted 3,700 trees in November on two small tracts in Puyallup and Orting. It is believed to be the first conservation district in the nation to generate carbon credits while also reforesting riparian habitat.

“Carbon sequestration and carbon credits aren’t a new thing, but what is new is a local market specific to urban forest carbon credits to monetize them,” Pierce CD Executive Director Ryan Mello said.

“What we love about this is that it’s a new revenue source for us to fund the long-term maintenance for these sites, and we’re doing this on habitat sites that we would do anyways,” Mello said. “It’s not taking us off our mission or priorities, and it’s not in faraway places where you hear about carbon credits. It’s very local."

“The urban-suburban interface and the fish and wildlife is what’s special,” Mello said. “These salmon-bearing streams have been our priority, so it’s a nice overlap.”

You can learn more about this new program on Pierce CD's website. Read the full story at NACD's blog.

Additionally, tune into Pierce CD's breakout session presentation of this revolutionary program during NACD's 75th Annual Meeting. The presentation will occur on Feb. 9 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern. To learn more about the breakout session presentation and register, click here.

This second round of funding expands the pilot program to new projects in Alabama, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

Conservation districts are an integral part of the delivery of these projects, and are featured project leaders in states from Hawaii to Oklahoma. Learn more here.

It is with a heavy heart that NACD shares the news that NACD South Central Executive Board Member Bill Thomas, a beloved friend of conservation, passed away in his home on Sunday night.

A dedicated rancher and conservationist, Thomas took great care of the 3,000-acre ranching operation that ran in his family for over 70 years. We encourage you to read this wonderful piece from Texas A&M on Thomas's love for music and how he would host concerts on his ranch.

Recently, Leslie Fisher, a resource conservation specialist with Indiana's Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), was featured in Field to Market's Spotlight Series.

To read the full article, visit Field to Market's website.

NCF will host their auction during the 2021 NACD Virtual Annual Meeting to support the NCF-Envirothon, the Next Generation Leadership Institute (NGLI) and conservation education. The online format will include item descriptions and photos and will allow a bidder to track each item for the duration of the auction. This year, bidders will have an extended period of time to participate. The 2021 NCF Virtual Auction will open at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021 and will close at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday Feb. 10, 2021.

Donate items for the auction today! This year, with the online format, we are asking that contributors hold onto items until after the auction and ship their donations directly to the winning bidder. Any and all items are welcome. For more information, please contact NACD South Central Region Representative Keith Owen at 

keith-owen@nacdnet.org.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC)'s North America Program will host a one-hour webinar on Friday, Feb. 5 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, to launch the new Edge of Field (EoF) Roadmap.

Developed through a collaborative six-month process, the roadmap consists of nine recommendations to accelerate the use of EoF practices to achieve an integrated, whole-farm approach to working lands conservation.

To learn more and register for the free webinar, click here.

Promote your conservation district or state association's tree sale, annual meeting, webinar, field day or more on NACD's Calendar of Events!