NACD is accepting breakout session proposals for the upcoming 2023 Annual Meeting - to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 11-15, 2023. These informational breakout sessions focus on the work of conservation districts and their partners across the country. Sessions typically run 60-90 minutes long and often showcase several speakers.

This year NACD is seeking proposals that fit into one of four themes:

• Natural Resource Management & Climate Resilience
• District Operations & Developing Next-Gen Conservationists
• Equity, Access, & Outreach
• Conservation Planning & Customer Service Training

NACD's breakout sessions are some of the most popular activities among meeting attendees. Session proposals are being accepted now through Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: NACD ANNUAL PROSPECTUS

The NACD Annual Prospectus for the 2023 Fiscal Year is available to view here. 

This guide has everything a potential partner needs to know about a variety of ways to engage with NACD. The prospectus covers our year-round programs, events like the Annual Meeting and Summer Conservation Forum, and other programmatic areas.

NACD helps connect potential partners who operate nationally, regionally, or locally to the work conservation districts do on the ground. Because of our reach, NACD is uniquely positioned to provide partners with an opportunity to align with the mission of conservation delivery. By offering a variety of engagement opportunities and a full range of targeted levels of support, partners can voice their commitment to locally-led conservation with a level of engagement that offers the greatest benefit to their organization.

Sponsorship opportunities are not exclusive to the listings in this document. Please reach out to events@nacdnet.org with any questions or ideas of potential collaboration or sponsorships.

LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE FOR NACD AWARDS

There is only one week left to send in your nominations for the 2022 NACD Service Awards. This opportunity offers national recognition to outstanding individuals and organizations for their work and leadership in soil and water conservation. Winners will be honored at the 2023 NACD Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA on February 14. 

The Friend of Conservation Award recognizes an individual, business, organization, or agency outside the association 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. 

The NACD Distinguished Service Awards recognizes an individual within the association, a conservation district, or a state association that has made significant contributions to the conservation and proper management of our nation’s natural resources. Nominees can be involved with districts or the association at any level, including past NACD officers. Nominations are also accepted for individuals posthumously. 

Visit the NACD website to nominate your conservation leaders now through August 31 and to view previous award winners, visit the NACD Awards Archives. 

SUSSEX CD HOSTS SOIL HEALTH FIELD DAY

The Sussex Conservation District (CD) held a Soil Health Field Day with the Delaware Soil Health Partnership on August 16, 2022. The event was hosted on the farm of NACD Soil Health Champion Jay Baxter in Georgetown, Delaware. Baxter is a fourth-generation farmer and works with the Sussex Conservation District for conservation planning and best management practices. Baxter Farms is a 2,000+ acre farming operation growing corn, soybeans, wheat, and lima beans. The farm utilizes many species of cover crops, including legumes and grasses. The field day gathered district and agency staff, producers, and other local stakeholders to hear from numerous presenters on conservation in action both locally and across the country. NACD Communications Specialist Mariah MacKenzie attended the field day. The event served as an opportunity for attendees to learn about the principles of soil health and see firsthand the impacts that soil health practices have on the field.  

The event began with remarks from District Coordinator David Baird followed by a presentation from Rick Clark, a fifth-generation farmer from Williamsport, Indiana. Clark’s presentation shared his experiences growing organic and no-till on nearly 7,000 acres. Throughout the presentation, discussions with the audience emphasized the ways that the principles of soil health are transferrable across the country as well as the importance of producers seeking guidance from local offices to assess what is needed for individual operations.  

After the presentation, attendees were taken on a tour of several tracts of Baxter Farm to see conservation and research in action. Jarrod Miller with the University of Delaware extension provided updates on precision sustainable agriculture, a research amongst producers and extension agents effort across almost half of the country. He also showed participants how his office is currently conducting research on Baxter Farms. Attendees were able to hear from Jay Baxter about his experiences and got to see and feel the impacts of soil health practices up close.  

To learn more about ongoing soil health projects in your region, contact your NACD region representative. To see what other Soil Health Champions are doing in their operations, visit NACD’s website.  

REVISTING THE ROLE OF DISTRICTS AND COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLANS

In 2020, NACD featured the Skagit County Conservation District and their efforts to revise their 2008 county-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The District led the revision effort and included updates to their Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP), working with the community and community partners like the Department of Emergency Management, county officials, and state and federal partners.

This June, NACD released the updated “Desk Guide to Accelerating Implementation of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.” As part of that release, we revisited with Jenny Coe, Skagit & Whatcom County Conservation District Resource Specialist, Community Wildfire Resilience, to dig in further on how districts can show up when considering drafting or revising a Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

What prompted Skagit County to draft the initial CWPP document?

The original CWPP was drafted in 2009 by the Skagit Conservation District and was a supplement to the NHMP being updated. At the time of the NHMP update process, the Conservation District had received Title III funds from Skagit County to support Firewise USA Program efforts and a wildfire risk reduction coordinator (me). We also had a veteran Forester on staff who was well informed on the NHMP update process. Recognizing that we were in a good position to provide guidance on the wildfire section of the NHMP plan, we started attending update meetings and offering our services. From there, we recognized that we should have a stand-alone CWPP that accompanied the NHMP that could address more specifics. We had the staff and the funding to develop the CWPP, so we did!

When did Skagit County decide to revise the CWPP?

The CD did an accomplishments update to the CWPP around 2012, but it wasn’t until 2019 – 10 years later – that we decided to do a complete revision of the CWPP as part of the NHMP update process. The main impetus for this was that our forester had been working for a couple of years on a new analysis method for wildfire risk that he wanted to use in a new CWPP. He had years of local knowledge and experience around wildfire occurrences, expertise in forest health, and connections to scientists through which he could vet his process. We were also trying to follow the best practices for incorporating the CWPP into the NHMP update process and document recommended by FEMA and connections through the various fire-adapted communities learning networks (WAFAC and FACNET) I was/am involved in.

What helped you reach your goal of revising the CWPP?

• We already had funding in place to support our work.
• We were already a trusted resource for the county with strong partnerships with other entities.
• We had a very knowledgeable person on staff with the right science background and experience to provide the core information for the CWPP.
• We had staff well-connected to the latest and greatest resources on CWPP development.

Read more of the interview on NACD's blog.