NACD co-signs letter addressed to President-elect Trump

Yesterday, NACD and 18 other agriculture and public lands groups sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump regarding the authorities provided by the Antiquities Act. The letter stressed the need for congressional revisions to the Act requiring any national monument proclamation by the president be subject to congressional approval and limited to 5,000 acres in size, per the original intent of the Antiquities Act.

A copy of the letter can be found here in NACD’s newsroom.

Annual meeting deadlines: Hotel room block discount, online registration ends this Friday

Have you registered for NACD’s 2017 Annual Meeting yet? Friday is the last day to register for the meeting online. This year’s meeting will be full of networking events, educational opportunities, inspiring speakers, and interactive tours. If you haven’t signed-up by Friday, you’ll only be able to register on-site at the Sheraton – Denver Downtown after the meeting starts on January 28.

Time is also running out to nab your hotel room for our 71st Annual Meeting. NACD has secured a group rate for meeting attendees who book their hotel stays under our room block. To accommodate as many meeting goers as possible, we've extended the deadline for NACD's room discount to this Friday. You can call or visit the Sheraton Denver Downtown online to complete your reservation.

Lee McDaniel heads to North Carolina for NC state association’s annual meeting

NACD President Lee McDaniel is in the Tar Heel State this week for the North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ annual meeting. Yesterday, Lee gave an NACD update at the meeting’s supervisors breakfast and led a breakout session that featured NACD’s Urban Agriculture Conservation Grants Initiative and the 42 urban districts that received funding to increase their technical capacity in 2016 through the program.

Mike Brown, the executive director of the National Association of State Conservation Agencies, spoke today on some of the upcoming challenges many conservation districts are facing. The North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler also delivered a speech in which he spoke to the damage his state endured in 2016 due to wildfire and hurricanes. Stay tuned for more updates from North Carolina in next week’s eResource!

Hamilton County SWCD in Indiana

Hamilton County is not just the fastest growing county in Indiana – it neighbors Indianapolis and is home to several of the state’s largest cities. The Hamilton Soil and Water Conservation District has served the county and its urban land owners through its Backyard Conservation Program for years. Now, as a 2016 awardee of NACD’s Urban Agriculture Conservation Grants Initiative, the district is providing on-site technical assistance to residents as they develop and maintain urban food plots.

Hamilton SWCD offers technical assistance to residents in many forms, including instruction on how to use soil health practices like no-till and cover crops, and how to manage nutrients, water, and pests effectively. The district is also developing partnerships within the county to encourage established or developing community gardens – as well as individual gardeners – to donate portions of their yields to local food banks through the “Hamilton County Garden Network.”

The network’s website and quarterly meetings provide residents with tips for using conservation practices, as well as development courses on grants and garden management. New partnerships with health and housing development organizations have been forged through the district’s urban agriculture program expansion, too, and in coordination with several smaller food pantries, the district created a “take home a garden” program where tomato or pepper container gardens are opened to food pantries.

For more information on Hamilton SWCD’s work to curb food insecurity in their community, visit their website: www.hamiltonswcd.org. If you would like to see your district’s conservation project featured in eResource, contact Director of Communications Whitney Forman-Cook.