Annual Meeting registration opens Tuesday!

Starting next Tuesday, September 6, you and yours will be able to register for NACD’s 2017 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. The 2017 conference will be held from January 28 to February 1 at the Sheraton in Downtown Denver. You can find out more about what’s in store for meeting attendees by heading over to our website. And don’t forget to check back periodically for more details on the live auction, notable guest speakers, informational breakout sessions, fun-filled tours, and so much more!

Chairman Conaway meets with Texan Conservation District Leaders

Last week more than 20 conservation district directors from across West Texas met with Congressman Mike Conaway, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The meeting was held in San Angelo, Texas, at the Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center.

The congressman met with the directors to receive input on current conservation programs, such as the ever-popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). According to Pecan Bayou SWCD’s Jule Richmond, “Congressman Conaway has been a strong supporter of conservation programs. We appreciated his time and willingness to meet with us and hear our concerns.”

NACD U&C Webinar: U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

September’s Urban and Community Conservation Webinar will be held on the 15th from noon to 1:00pm Eastern and will feature a presentation on the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit by NOAA Liaison Ned Gardiner.

Building climate resilience begins with understanding climate threats and ends with taking action to protect valued assets. Anticipating climate-related events, communities and businesses can prepare and respond to minimize or prevent disruptions to services, damage to property, or even loss of life. From this perspective, taking a climate-smart approach to protecting people and valued assets can boost economies, create jobs, and improve the health of local ecosystems. The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit provides tools, data, case studies, access to expertise at a national scale, and a framework to guide individuals, districts and others to becoming climate-smart.

U&C Webinars are sponsored by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and held on the third Thursday of each month. Registration is free, but required. To participate, email NACD’s Debra Bogar at deb-bogar@nacdnet.org with your title, district or business name, and state.

By Mike Brown, NASCA

Did you know… even with state and federal assistance and guidance, we are no longer the sole source of conservation delivery? Countless enterprises - from non-profit and non-governmental organizations to corporate entities - are becoming significant players in the conservation delivery market.

At the same time, there are a number of groups that are attempting to rewrite history by claiming that the voluntary, incentive-based approach to conservation delivery has been ineffective.

Now that we know… we’re not the only game in town for conservation delivery and there’s an ongoing effort to replace our beloved voluntary conservation delivery model with a stronger regulatory approach, what should we do about it? Consider these points (click here to read all nine tips!) to determine if your conservation district is headed in the right direction:

First, master your trade. By statute, conservation district boards are the voice of all of the landowners and the cooperators in the district. This puts district officials in an enviable position of tremendous responsibility. Locally-led conservation implies local leadership, and there are a few things every conservation district board should do to provide that leadership, starting with training your district officials… (To finish reading this week’s Did You Know?, head over to NACD’s blog.)

The Summer Resource is out!

Did you see the summer edition of The Resource last week? Check it out for more details on NACD and NRCS's $2 million urban agriculture conservation grant initiative, an update of our work on Capitol Hill over the past few months, and an essay on voluntary conservation by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.