NACD's Virtual Annual Meeting begins next Monday! Have you registered? There's still time to register for only $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."

The Community feature is now live on the Annual Meeting platform! Begin connecting with your fellow conservationists and start saving the agenda items you’ll know you want to attend. Login instructions were emailed directly from events@nacdnet.org and will be sent a few times over the coming weeks.

Do you qualify for free registration? Registration for the first week of business meetings is free. Registration for both the business meetings and the convention programming is $50. Please select only one ticket option when registering. Additionally, 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.

NACD’s Virtual Advocacy Week has been scheduled for the week of March 22-26, 2021.

More information can be found here, and NACD staff will continue to provide additional updates on this webpage. Stay tuned to future eResource editions for updates and more information on this year's Virtual Advocacy Week. If you have any questions, please contact NACD Director of Government Affairs Coleman Garrison at coleman-garrison@nacdnet.org.

From Jan. 11-13, over 400 district officials, employees and partners gathered virtually for the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts' (IASWCD) 78th Annual Conference. This year’s virtual conference included an event app for easy conference navigation.

On Monday, January 11, Damian Mason, farmer and businessman, provided a comedic and inspirational keynote address opening the conference. NACD President Tim Palmer, CEO Jeremy Peters and North Central Region Representative Beth Mason represented the national association in a session entitled, “NACD Opportunities and Policy Updates.” Additional session topics included the economic impact of regenerative farming; understanding adoption and persistent use of cover crops by farmers; a report from the Indiana climate change impacts assessment; and using social media to enhance virtual education.

A coffee briefing with Indiana legislators opened the conference on Tuesday, January 12, where Joe Schmees, IASWCD executive director, presented on the history, purpose and mission of soil and water conservation districts. He emphasized the need for funding, the partnership and leveraging these funds provide and the impact conservation makes in protecting natural resources. During the afternoon, over 200 attendees participated in a meet-and-greet session with David Montgomery and Anne Bikle, authors of The Dirt Trilogy, after their breakout session presentation.

Sessions on Wednesday, January 13, included “The Punk Rock Farmer” Jonathan Lawler, who presented on local food deserts and how his nonprofit, Brandywine Creek Farms, has changed their operation to address hunger. Other breakout session choices included soil health diagnostics – a hands-on approach; and human resource responsibilities for districts. Seven roundtable topics were available for attendees to hear about new and current initiatives, including Indiana’s Envirothon program; urban agriculture and soil health; a presentation from NACD Projects and Partnerships Coordinator Meg Leader on NACD’s technical assistance grants; and “Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities,” the annual stewardship theme for 2021. The conference closed on Wednesday with the Indiana Conservation Awards presentation, honoring nine state award recipients for their exceptional conservation practice implementation on the land and in the management of their operations. 

On Tuesday, January 19, the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts (DACD) held a hybrid in-person/virtual annual meeting. While a few supervisors and staff joined in-person, other supervisors, staff and partners joined via Zoom.

NACD Northeast Region Representative Eric Hansen joined Delaware State Conservationist Kasey Taylor and National Association of State Conservation Agencies (NASCA) Executive Director Mike Brown for a presentation about the presidential transition and other federal-level updates.

DACD also elected new leadership at the meeting, where Richard Carlisle was elected DACD president, an office previously held by Edwin Alexander. Gwen Pierce was elected first vice president. Bruce Snow was elected second vice president.

If your state or territory association has an upcoming event and would like an NACD officer or staff to participate, please let us know by completing a speaker request form found here.

The next NACD Urban and Community (U&C) Conservation webinar, scheduled for 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 18, 2021, will feature the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and its efforts to promote pollinator conservation with its Parks for Pollinators BioBlitz event.

The webinar will include a presentation from Michele White (pictured above), NRPA conservation program manager, on the association's strategies to promote conservation, equity, health and wellness in communities across the country through parks and a variety of programs and resources.

To register, click here. If you have difficulty, please contact NACD Pacific Region Representative Ariel Rivers.

The National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Virtual Auction website is now available to view online!

You can now view available items before the bidding starts at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 29. The bidding window will close at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 10.

NCF is still seeking donations for this year's Virtual Auction. 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.

On President Biden’s first day in office, he issued an executive order (EO), "Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis," which included a list of agency regulations that will be reviewed.

The NACD Urban Agriculture Conservation (UAC) grant initiative is accepting applications through February 15! For more information, review the request for proposals and frequently asked questions on NACD’s Urban and Community Webpage.

Potential applicants can also learn from previous grantees about their projects in a recording of a recent UAC Informational Session, as well as through NACD’s Story Map of previous projects. Please reach out to NACD Pacific Region Representative Ariel Rivers with any questions.

It can be difficult for farmers and ranchers to navigate the wide range of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) resources and stay up-to-date with program changes after each farm bill. Thanks to the newly updated Building Sustainable Farms, Ranches and Communities from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, producers, researchers, nonprofits and landowners can easily find USDA programs that can help them achieve their goals.

The 101-page guide covers 62 government programs and has been updated to include program updates from the 2018 Farm Bill. Each program listing provides a description of the program’s available resources, information on how to apply, and in some cases, examples of how the funding has been used. The guide also includes basic information on how to design sound projects, find appropriate programs and write grant applications. To download the guide, click here.

The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership has officially launched its 2021 designation cycle. Apply today to become part of an innovative community working to strengthen military readiness, conserve natural resources, bolster agricultural and forestry economies, and increase climate change resilience.

A live webinar, scheduled for Feb. 3 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. Eastern, will be held to answer any questions. Click here to register for the webinar. The deadline to apply is March 29 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Learn more about the Sentinel Landscapes partnership and apply here.

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