Registration is now open for NACD's 2025 Summer Conservation Forum & Tours! Hosted with Wisconsin Land + Water, the NACD Summer Meeting will be held in Milwaukee, WI, this July 25-29, 2025.

Early bird registration is only open for a limited time, so don't delay. Save $50 per person by registering before July 7.

Hotel rooms in the NACD room block are available to reserve at the iconic Pfister Hotel. Room rates start at $235/night. Rooms in NACD’s room block are first come, first served and there may be limited or no availability as the deadline for the room block nears. The last day to reserve available rooms in the room block is July 7.

Experience Milwaukee and surrounding counties with us by joining the tours! Included in the cost of registration are tours to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, and a variety of conservation project locations and farms. Attendees will learn about water research and conservation, regenerative agriculture, habitat restoration, and more.

Looking to add more fun to your meeting experience? Join us for a night with the Brewers! On Monday, July 28, meet up with colleagues at the American Family Field stadium in Milwaukee to enjoy a baseball game. Tickets can be purchased when registering for the meeting.

Learn more about the Summer Meeting, see the agenda, and reserve your spot amongst the action now!

JOIN US FOR EDUCATION FOCUSED URBAN WEBINAR

Join us for the next NACD Urban and Community webinar, Stewardship to Synergy: Educate & Empower, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. ET!

Hosted in partnership with The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation, hear from Aimee Figgatt, NACD's Stewardship and Education Coordinator, about conservation stewardship and education materials developed with the Foundation focused on urban and home garden habitats.

Register for the event here.

EXPAND YOUR REMOTE

SENSING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH FREE ONLINE COURSES

Through NACD’s various partnership activities via the District and Partner Relations Committee and otherwise, we are continuously looking for opportunities to share interesting or innovative programs that may benefit district boards, staff, or clients.

One such program recently came to our attention: free learning opportunities available through NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET). These virtual programs provide anyone the opportunity to develop or expand their knowledge related to remote sensing, including ways remote sensing can be applied in agricultural settings.

Upcoming ARSET courses include Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Monitoring Global Terrestrial Surface Water Height (also available in Spanish), and more. Resources from past courses (including slides and recorded sessions) are also available online, categorized by topics for ease of reference (for example, fundamentals, water resources, wildland fires, etc.). ARSET is part of NASA’s Applied Sciences Program, which specifically focuses on increasing the accessibility of NASA’s data for addressing problems and making informed decisions here on Earth; the Applied Sciences Program also hosts the DEVELOP, a capacity building program that supports end users in gaining specific skills related to applying Earth observation data in real world contexts via small-scale, interactive feasibility projects.

Stay tuned to NACD’s eResource for announcements for future opportunities to connect with the ARSET and DEVELOP teams. We plan to host a Conservation Coffee with NASA staff later this year and look forward to learning more about the way their programs can benefit conservation districts, state associations, and their partners.

WHAT'S UP IN WASHINGTON? GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS UPDATE

Last week, USDA announced $23 million in grants to support transporting hazardous fuels from national forests to processing facilities. Funded through the Forest Service’s Hazardous Fuels Transportation Program, the grants will aim to reduce hazardous fuels that pose wildfire threats to communities, critical infrastructure, and recreation areas. The Forest Service will accept applications through June 20, 2025. Information about webinars will be available soon on the Forest Service Timber Transportation website, found here. 

USDA has also launched a new application round for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Applications for both General and Continuous CRP are accepted through June 6, 2025. Learn more here.

USDA’s plans to release reorganization and reduction-in-force plans were stalled last Friday when U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of California issued a temporary pause in the Trump administration’s plans to slash staffing levels at over 20 agencies. The order will last until May 23, 2025, during which new reduction-in-force announcements from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will not go into effect.

This afternoon, the Senate Agriculture Committee hosted a hearing titled "Perspectives from the Field, Part 4: Conservation". NACD President Gary Blair provided testimony to the committee alongside representatives from Pheasants Forever, the Illinois Corn Growers Association, the Arkansas Farm Bureau, and the Texas Agricultural Land Trust. Read President Blair's testimony here.

KENT CD AND PARTNERS BRING FOOD TO FAMILIES

Kent Conservation District (CD) in Grand Rapids, MI, undertook a collaborative effort involving Plainsong Farm near Rockford, MI, North Kent Connect in Rockford, Community Food Club in Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Community College Student Food Pantry, the West Michigan Growers Group, and the Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds (LGROW). With the support of an NACD Urban and Community Conservation Grant, the project was able to accomplish three main goals: to provide conservation technical assistance, culturally desired produce to families, and education about conservation practices at Plainsong Farm.

Conservation technical assistance was provided to regional urban and rural producers through a collaboration with the Plainsong Farm, a faith-based non-profit living laboratory for farm-based environmental education, and the West Michigan Growers Group, which consists of 30 small growers, one quarter of which are urban growers, whom all serve urban populations through community-supported agriculture or farmers markets, with many taking part in programs serving individuals and families facing food insecurity. Kent CD’s Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program technician presented an overview of the program at a meeting in 2022 and, in July 2023, offered free soil sampling to WMGG owners/operators to encourage them to participate in the program by implementing conservation practices on their land.

The second goal was to provide culturally desired fresh produce to urban and rural low-income families through established partnerships. A 2018-2019 Kent County Community Food Survey revealed that 30% of the county population experienced food insecurity and identified a financial disparity in a person’s ability to obtain fresh produce. To address these issues, Plainsong Farm, using regenerative practices, distributed a total of 30,588 fresh, culturally desired produce servings through their Nourish Your Neighbor Program, partnering with three organizations: North Kent Connect, Grand Rapids Community College, and Grand Rapids Community Food Club. On average, 7,535 individuals benefited each quarter. The impact was broadly distributed. North Kent Connect serves citizens from numerous small communities and surrounding rural areas. Grand Rapids Community College serves a diverse student population of which, based on surveys, 30% face food insecurity. The Community Food Club serves an urban population comprised of people who identify as 45% Hispanic/Latino, 26% African American, 24% white, and 4% other.

The final goal was to provide education about conservation practices at Plainsong Farm to volunteers and partner agency clients to foster implementing sustainability practices and growing their own fresh produce. To that end, Plainsong Farm, throughout the growing seasons, hosted twice-weekly educational volunteer events engaging an average of 96 individuals each quarter. Ten additional events led by the Plainsong Farm manager, Mike Edwardson, in partnership with LGROW and Kent CD staff, demonstrated home gardening techniques and knowledge.

Three Environmental Educational Days were held at the Community Food Club, in which over 1,000 vegetable seedlings and over 1,000 vegetable seed packets, all culturally preferred, were distributed to clients who, based on a survey, overwhelmingly (66%) were interested in growing their own produce. LGROW presented information about practices that urban individuals can implement at home and in their neighborhoods, such as adopting a stormwater drain, planting pollinator gardens, car washing best management practices, and installing curb cut-out rain gardens. Kent CD demonstrated raised-bed gardening techniques and discussed soil testing for lead, offering free services to many of the Community Food Club members who live in older homes that likely contain lead-based exterior paint, increasing the likelihood of soil contamination. Mike Edwardson, the Plainsong Farm Manager, provided gardening knowledge, and six Spanish-language interpreters were on hand to convey information and answer questions in an individual’s native language, given that a large portion of Community Food Club members are first- or second-generation Hispanic immigrants. The active engagement by Community Food Club members and their deep gratitude expressed their deep gratitude through active engagement and big smiles.

Read more on NACD's blog.