Please contact Mary Scott, NACD Natural Resource Policy Specialist, at mary-scott@nacdnet.org with any questions.

On July 28, the New York team from Esopus, New York, was named the champion of the 2021 National Conservation Foundation (NCF)-Envirothon, an international environmental and natural resources education competition for high schoolers.

“I’d like to congratulate New York and all of the teams for their hard work and dedication,” NCF Chair Brent Van Dyke said. “Their knowledge about environmental and natural resource issues, as well as their commitment to these areas, have shown me that the future of conservation is in good hands.”

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and health concerns, the 2021 NCF-Envirothon annual competition was held virtually, a first for the Envirothon program, and 41 teams across the U.S., Canada and China participated. Hosted by the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD), from July 25-28, 2021, students demonstrated their knowledge of soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry and wildlife management. The teams also prepared oral presentations on this year’s current issue, “Water Resources Management: Local Control, Local Solutions.”

“We enjoyed showcasing our state’s one-of-a-kind natural resources management system that relies on locally elected boards making decisions on their unique issues,” said Jim Eschliman, NARD president. “I continue to be impressed with students and their ability to problem-solve some of our biggest environmental challenges.”

The winning NCF-Envirothon teams are awarded scholarships and prizes, with the top three scoring teams receiving $30,000 in scholarships thanks to the support of Smithfield Foods, Inc. The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts Foundation awarded a total of $13,000 for fourth through seventh places, and a donation from the Conservation Districts of Iowa provided awards for eighth through tenth place.

Read more in NCF's Newsroom.

Tree canopy cover within urban environments can provide several benefits for communities, not limited to buffering high temperatures, reducing air pollution, and increasing biodiversity while providing wildlife habitat and increasing property values.

In the August NACD Urban and Community (U&C) Conservation Webinar, scheduled for August 19 at 12 p.m. Eastern, learn from three organizations who are working to enhance urban tree canopies at the county, state and national level.

Jared Bartley of the Cuyahoga SWCD in Cleveland will speak about the district's role in the Cuyahoga County Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant Program. Cori Dolan at the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management will present on the role of state urban forestry coordinators and how State Forest Action Plans help prioritize urban forestry efforts, such as canopy initiatives. Finally, Ian Leahy from American Forests will offer a broader perspective on tree canopy efforts across the country, as well as discuss Tree Equity Score and the Tree Equity program. 

Register here to learn more from Jared, Cori and Ian.

Rick Jeans is a third-generation farmer in Tonkawa, Okla., farming with his wife Diane and his father Don. The Jeans’ operation includes a crop rotation of soybeans, grain or forage sorghum (milo) and winter wheat on 3,000 acres and an additional 90-head cow-calf operation that feeds on pasture, stalks and cover crops. Jeans also has enrolled 600 acres in the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

In the 1990s, Jeans and his father switched to a no-till operation after watching the successes of a family friend who was no-tilling. Jeans felt very fortunate that his father was open to the change as his grandfather was not. One of the biggest challenges Jeans faced with switching to no-tilling was acquiring the right equipment for the job. When they started, there weren’t many no-till drills around, and the ones they could find were expensive. Also, his sprayer, used to keep weeds under control, wasn’t large enough to meet his needs. While times were financially tough, Jeans looks back now and knows that the decisions they made to switch to no-till were beneficial in the end.

In 2013, with the encouragement of an NRCS official and his local conservation district, Jeans started incorporating cover crops into his operation. To work with his cow-calf operation, Jeans typically plants his cover crops in August so that by the time the calves are weaned and grass pastures have been grazed, the cover crops are ready to be grazed. While cover crops meet the grazing needs of his livestock, Jeans experiences additional benefits through water infiltration by way of root channels and the moisture holding capacity of the soil due to increased organic matter.

Jeans says that many of the no-tillers in the western U.S. are concerned about cover crops drawing on the moisture from the soil which is needed for the cash crop. But with the right management, Jeans believes moisture in the soil is stored more efficiently with cover crops, not less.

“I believe that the soil was created by God and like the soul of man it is so important for how we manage them,” Jeans said. “By educating America on the proper methods to nourish, sustain, grow, and maintain the resources that we have been blessed with is a top priority. God established his plan for man back at the beginning of the earth. It’s time for us to step up and do our job.”

To learn more about Jeans' operation, visit his NACD profile online. If you or someone you know would like to become a member of the NACD Soil Health Champions Network, please visit the NACD website for more information or contact North Central Region Representative Beth Mason at beth-mason@nacdnet.org with your questions.

Materials from the 2021 NACD Summer Meeting, held July 24-27, are now available online.

You can download the meeting press release template, as well as other meeting resources, from NACD's Summer Meeting page.

View NACD's Flickr to download photos from the meeting.

Thanks to the contributions of both old and new Friends at NACD’s Summer Meeting, $12,500 has been raised for the Friends of NACD District Grants Program!

A special welcome to new Friends of NACD Lifetime Member Bill Simshauser. Simshauser is the Vice President of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts and the Northern Plains Region Executive Board Member.

We are $7,500 away from our goal to raise $20,000 to award eight grants to conservation districts in 2022. Becoming a Friend of NACD is an investment in conservation districts across the country. For a limited time, receive a free 75^th Anniversary cap with your $75 or above contribution.

Through a partnership with Agriculture Future of America (AFA), NACD provided 16 undergraduate college students the opportunity to participate in the 2021 Conservation Careers Workshop in June of 2021. The three-day event was presented virtually through funding provided by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the United States Forest Service.

The second day of the online workshop included three virtual field trips. Each video featured conservation professionals discussing their own career journey and presenting on the management, regeneration and restoration of critical forest and coastal habitats. The videos are now available to view on the NACD YouTube channel here.

The NACD partnership with AFA will expand to a larger format as the Sustainability Institute during the NACD Annual Meeting in 2022. For more information visit NACD's website or contact Keith Owen, NACD South Central Region Representative, at keith-owen@nacdnet.org.

Join the Department of Defense this Wednesday, August 4, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern for a webinar on Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI).

This webinar, titled "2021 REPI Challenge Funding Recipient Spotlight," will highlight the selection of the 2021 REPI Challenge

funding recipients.

The 2021 REPI Challenge focused on innovative projects that limit incompatible development, enhance military installation resilience, and relieve current or anticipated environmental restrictions on military testing, training or operations at installations across the country.

Learn more about the webinar and how to join here.

Natural Resources Management Today (NRM Today), a new monthly digital newsletter launches this month.

NRM Today is developed for North American natural resources professionals who manage fish, forests, range, water, wildlife and other resources, as well as for the people who depend on or enjoy these resources.

Registration is free, but required for access. Click here to learn more about the resource.

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