On May 19, 2021, NACD applauded the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s appointment of Terry Cosby to serve as chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

As chief, Cosby will serve America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners in their conservation efforts to help them conserve, maintain and improve natural resources and the environment through a network of over 3,000 offices in communities nationwide.

“Terry is no stranger to natural resource management, and his decades-long experience as a conservationist and business team leader has proven his commitment to protecting natural resources and building sustainable conservation solutions,” NACD President Michael Crowder said. “As longtime partners with NRCS, we look forward to working with Terry on the federal, state and local level, and I applaud Secretary Vilsack for appointing such a strong leader.”

Raised on a cotton farm in Tallahatchie County, Miss., Cosby’s love for the land began at an early age when he was actively involved on his family’s third-generation farm, which was purchased by his great-grandfather in the late 1800s. Cosby began his career with NRCS over 40 years ago and first served as a student trainee in Iowa in 1979. In addition to serving as acting chief of NRCS prior to this appointment, Cosby has also served NRCS as the state conservationist for Ohio, which was the first state to use Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds for forestry programs under his leadership.

Read the full press release in NACD's Newsroom.

News outlets across the country are already predicting a severe 2021 wildfire season. According to a local news outlet in Arizona, “This year poses to be similar if not worse given current wildland conditions and an abundance of fuels across Arizona, especially in the northern regions.” Unfortunately, Arizona isn’t the only state preparing for a turbulent season ahead.

Congress has once again turned its attention to what is now informally known as a ‘fire year.’ On Thursday, April 29, 2021, the House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands convened for a hearing on wildfire. During his opening remarks, Subcommittee Chair Joe Neguse (D-CO) stated, “Wildfires today are nearly a year-round risk, burning larger areas at higher intensity, and this is only projected to increase as the climate continues to warm.”

Members of the Senate have also turned their gaze toward the issue. Last week, the Senate held two hearings on forestry and climate. On Thursday, May 20, 2021, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing, titled “Forest Management, Forest Products, and Carbon.” On the same day, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee held a hearing, titled “Federal, State and Private Forestlands: Opportunities for Addressing Climate Change.” These hearings covered the unique roles that private, state and federal forested lands can have as we work to recognize the role that forests can play in addressing climate change, which will help solve issues with wildfire concerns and fuel loads.

NACD appreciates Congress’s attention to this critical issue. Last year, NACD supported several pieces of legislation aimed at bolstering wildfire and forestry management, including supporting the Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act introduced by Senators Daines (R-MT) and Feinstein (D-CA). As the new Congress continues and these and other Members of Congress continue to discuss ways that the federal government can help assist in active forestry management, NACD looks forward to further engagement to inform Congress of the role conservation districts can play in this area.

Read the full update at NACD's Blog.

The Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District (ERICD), a 2020 Friends of NACD District Grants Program awardee, held its first-ever Earth Day Seedling Sale in April 2021. The sale helped educate community members about the benefits of planting trees and provided residents with an opportunity to purchase tree seedlings to plant at their homes.

“The planting of trees is one of the biggest and most inexpensive ways of taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to tackle the climate crisis,” says Sara Churgin, ERICD district manager. Planting trees beautifies gardens, provides food and shelter for wildlife and stabilizes areas at risk for erosion. Trees even help local farmers. “Incorporating more native plants into your home landscape helps attract pollinators that increase crop yields, as well as insect predators that reduce costs for pest management,” explains Nancy Parker Wilson, an ERICD board member and site host for the sale.

Promotion for the sale was done virtually through social media and email newsletters, and through press releases, radio interviews and printed rack cards distributed around town and at the local farmers’ market. Partner organizations generously agreed to help spread the message through their own outlets. This level of partnership is vital to the success of ERICD.

The success of the promotion strategy was obvious in the nearly sold-out inventory. Nearly all of the seedlings were pre-sold, leaving some available for purchase the day of the sale. In addition to the sale of the seedlings, the promotion strategy also met the goal of educating the public about the importance of planting native plants.

Read more about this project in this blog post.

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As NACD celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year, we are releasing a special monthly newsletter highlighting conservation districts' successes over the years.

Entitled "Diamonds Out of the Dust: 75 Years of Conservation District Success Stories," this monthly newsletter features stories submitted by conservation districts and state/territory associations across the nation.

In the May edition, we highlighted Richland SWCD's pollinator garden video created with an NACD Urban Agriculture Conservation (UAC) Grant, Butte Soil and Water Conservation District's NACD Technical Assistance (TA) Grant success story and pronghorn restoration in New Mexico. You'll also hear from Steve Stierwalt, who is a Past President of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts, about his conservation district involvement and experiences with NACD. 

Learn more about our 75th Anniversary campaign and view all past newsletters here. To be featured in the newsletter, share your district's success story by submitting this online form.

The National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) is recruiting volunteers to serve on a 15-month (June 2021 – September 2022) virtual project advisory panel that will inform and help develop a NRPA resource to help park and recreation agencies build upon community science events, like the Parks for Pollinator BioBlitz, to engage their communities in sustainability initiatives like supporting native and pollinator habitat and build coalitions of advocates to support biodiversity.

The goal of this resource is to create a toolkit that will advance native habitat and sustainability practices for communities that help to ensure healthy, resilient and sustainable parks and communities centered in equity. This resource will not only focus on community engagement and coalition building but also efforts agencies can advance internally to promote these efforts and build support at the municipal level.

A stipend of $800 will be provided to cover the panelist’s contributions, in addition to being recognized in the final tools and resources.

For more information on the opportunity and to apply, please visit this page. The deadline for application is May 27th. If you have any questions, please reach out to Michele White, NRPA Conservation Program Manager, directly.

The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) has teamed up with Virginia Department of Forestry to help the state reach its goal of planting nine million trees in the next five years.

The goal will bring about targeted water quality improvements in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, increase the SWCD’s visibility, and draw in individuals and groups intent upon contributing to urban forestry and conservation.

“We’re really able to multiply the message much further because of the shared and mutual understanding of each other’s programs,” Northern Virginia SWCD Executive Director Laura Grape said.

The partners have joined efforts to increase urban tree canopy, in part through the district’s spring seedling sale – which this year sold out in 11 hours with help from the state’s promotions – and by requesting organizations and individuals throughout Fairfax County who are planting trees to record it on an app the Department of Forestry developed, called ‘My Trees Count.’

“When we’re looking at it collectively, it’s way more valuable than that one tree. That’s why every one of those trees count,” Virginia Department of Forestry Urban Forest Conservationist Jim McGlone said.

Read the full story on NACD's blog.

NACD's offices will be closed Monday, May 31, in observance of Memorial Day to remember and honor those who have died serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Learn more about the position and how to apply here. Apply by Friday, June 4, 2021 for priority interview consideration.

NACD is currently seeking candidates for a Marketing Coordinator and Northeast Region Representative.

The marketing coordinator is a full-time position based in NACD’s Washington, D.C. headquarters that supports coordination across a broad portfolio of communications activities, including social media, marketing emails, publications, website management, data analytics and more to achieve specific, project-driven outcomes.

The Northeast Region Representative is a full-time position based in NACD’s Northeast Region providing assistance to NACD’s member conservation districts and NACD Board of Directors to advance conservation, resource development and to assist in the implementation of the association’s policies related to the Northeast Region (CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NJ, NH, NY, PA, RI, VT, WV). This is a service-oriented position focused on creating and maintaining relationships and increasing the effectiveness of NACD’s support of conservation districts and their state associations.

Learn more about the positions on NACD's careers webpage and apply by Friday, May 28, 2021 for priority interview consideration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing up to $15 million to support the development of new tools, approaches, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands through the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program.

The application for the program is now open. Proposals must be submitted through the NRCS Program Portal by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 19, 2021.

Learn more in the NRCS press release.

This Thursday, May 27, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to consider Janie Simms Hipp’s nomination to be General Counsel at USDA.

NACD President Michael Crowder sent a letter to the Committee in April supporting her nomination.

"There is much work to do to address the systemic, historic and current barriers facing our nation’s food producers, and we believe there is no one better than Janie Simms Hipp to lead USDA’s Office of General Counsel," he said.

Promote your conservation district with Bass Pro Shops TRUE TIMBER Caps.

Combining style with field-ready concealment, our caps truly do it all as an outdoor use cap.

Comfortable six-panel low profile construction and good breathability create a timeless fit and exceptional durability, so you can wear your hat season after season.

The promotional cap package includes six caps in your choice of color, with your conservation district’s logo professionally embroidered on the front.

For additional questions, do not hesitate to contact us here.

On May 17, 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of up to $2 million for local governments to host Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) pilot projects for fiscal year 2021.

The cooperative agreements support projects that develop and test strategies for planning and implementing municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans and are part of USDA’s broader efforts to support urban agriculture.

Learn more here.

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