February 26, 2008 eNotes - National Association of Conservation Districts

February 26, 2008
index to previous eNotes

1. NACD Leaders Resume State Meeting Travels
NACD’s newly-elected officer team is back on the road, meeting with members and conveying national priorities. This week, NACD President John Redding traveled to Oklahoma City, Okla. to participate in the state association’s annual meeting. Highlights of Redding’s presentation included the 2008 Farm Bill, watersheds, progress in the conservation district official accreditation program and NACD’s successful 2008 Annual Meeting. In addition to addressing the full crowd, Redding also made remarks to the Board of Directors, Tennessee Conservation District Employees Association and the Presidents’ Association. He urged support from all of the groups for NACD’s 509 Capitol Court Campaign and Renovation Ride.

President Elect Steve Robinson presented a similar message to conservation district supervisors in Jackson, Tenn. at the Tennessee Association of Conservation Districts’ (TACD) Annual Meeting. Robinson discussed current legislative efforts and NACD’s workload and goals for 2008. Southeast Region Representative Phylis Vandevere also participated in the meeting, reporting at the Business Session on the results of the TACD planning session she facilitated in November.

2. Farm Bill Deadline Draws Near
The March 15, 2008 Farm Bill extension deadline is quickly approaching, and Congressional leaders are continuing to discuss Farm Bill options. Before new farm policy can be passed, negotiators must first reach agreement on funding issues and determine if additional financial resources will be made available for the 2008 Farm Bill. Additional spending estimates range from six to twelve billion dollars, which would fund programs throughout the Farm Bill, potentially including nutrition, disaster, conservation and renewable energy. Without agreement on funding resources in the next few days, Congress may shift to another extension of the current Farm Bill.

The NACD Board of Directors again identified the Farm Bill as a top legislative priority for 2008 during their meeting at the 2008 NACD Annual Meeting in Reno, Nev. Without additional conservation funding for a revised 2008 Farm Bill, conservation programs such as the Wetlands Reserve and Grasslands Reserve Programs will not continue. NACD has advocated for maintaining the locally-led conservation program delivery, a strong conservation title in the Farm Bill and adequate technical assistance to work with producer-customers on their conservation needs.

NACD will continue to pass along the most recent information as negotiations continue on the Farm Bill. More information on NACD’s Farm Bill activities can be found on our website at http://www.nacdnet.org/policy/agriculture/farmbill/2007/.

3. Conservation District Leader Appointed to New EPA Ag Advisory Committee
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson recently announced the appointment of 30 citizens to serve on a newly-formed Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Advisory Committee. Representing NACD on the advisory committee will be Earl Garber from Crowley, La. Garber is president of the Louisiana Association of Conservation Districts and currently serves on NACD’s Legislative Committee.

The committee will initially focus on EPA's policies and regulations on climate change and renewable energy with regard to the agriculture community, a regulatory and voluntary environmental strategy for managing waste from livestock operations and the development of a constructive approach to advancing sustainable agriculture, protecting the environment and addressing communication between environmental and agricultural interests.

Committee members were selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants. NACD congratulates Mr. Garber on this appointment and looks forward the work of the advisory committee in helping EPA to implement farm policy.

For additional information on the newly-formed Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Advisory Committee, visit http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/frrcc.

4. Senate Committee Examines Renewable Fuels Standards
On February 7, 2008 the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources conducted an oversight hearing to collect testimony on the recently-passed renewable fuels standard included in last year’s Energy Bill. The bill’s definition of “renewable biomass” excluded woody biomass from federal forests and natural regeneration from private lands as feedstock for renewable energy. Hazardous fuels on federal lands is often targeted for removal, especially in the wildland-urban interface, and private forests are often planted and not the result of natural regeneration. This exclusion by definition denies the value of these potential sources of renewable energy from being used to meet the nation’s need for renewable energy and minimizes the problems hazardous fuels create. This issue was highlighted during the hearing and NACD will continue to work for a broader definition of biomass to include these resources.

5. Stewardship Materials Sale Ends Friday
This week is your last chance to receive a 10 percent discount on Stewardship materials from the NACD Marketplace! This limited-time offer is good only through this Friday, February 29, 2008, and applies to orders of 2008 Stewardship materials that are $150 or more. To receive the discount, use the code NACD-2-29-08 when placing your order. The discount may be used only once per customer and does not apply to other non-Stewardship NACD Marketplace items. NACD will still accept Stewardship orders after February 29, 2008, but those orders will not be eligible for the 10 percent discount.

Don’t miss the chance to promote the 2008 “Water is Life” Stewardship in your community for a reduced price. Hurry to the NACD Marketplace at http://www.nacdstore.org/ and place your order today! Additional information about NACD’s 2008 Stewardship theme, “Water is Life,” is available at http://www.nacdnet.org/stewardship/2008/.

6. The Center for Absentee Landowners Reaches Out
The Center for Absentee Landowners is an emerging new partnership for conservation districts. Of the 3.4 million owners of private agricultural land in the United States, 42 percent do not operate any of the land they own and lease out all or part of the land. Eighty-five percent of absentee landowners are not actively engaged in decision-making on the farm, and a majority of the landowners have never been a farm operator. These factors suggest that future gains in the adoption of conservation practices will require efforts targeted specifically to increasing conservation adoption on rented lands.

The Center for Absentee Landowners works to inform and assist absentee landowners with understanding and implementing conservation programs on their land. The Center is designed to help absentee landowners understand the different available programs, which agencies to contact and the tools needed to implement conservation. Funding for the Center is currently provided by a three-year USDA Conservation Innovation Grant, a national grant with the goal of developing outreach to absentee landowners about conservation programs.

NACD’s 2008 Annual Meeting featured a breakout session focusing on absentee landowners. A presentation from the session, titled Top 10 Reasons Why Marketing to Absentee Landowners Works, is available to you as a resource. For more information about the Center for Absentee Landowners, see the Center’s website at http://www.absenteelandowners.org.

7. National Ground Water Awareness Week Just Around the Corner
Did you know that just like furnaces and smoke detectors, water wells need periodic checkups, too? The National Ground Water Association needs your help to spread the word during National Ground Water Awareness Week, which is scheduled for March 9-15, 2008. Districts can help get the word out by writing letters to the editor, issuing press releases and radio announcements, posting flyers and distributing information to the general public.

In addition to promoting annual testing of wells, the Awareness Week will educate citizens about ground water, a resource which is vitally important but often neglected and misunderstood. For more information and outreach materials, visit http://www.ngwa.org/public/awarenessweek/index.aspx.

8. Check out What’s New on www.nacdnet.org!
NACD continually adds resources and information to our website in an effort to better serve our members. While updates are made multiple times daily, below are a few major items of interest that have been added in the past two weeks.

2008 Annual Meeting Post Conference Resources – Speeches, speaker power-point presentations and much more! Whether you missed the chance to be in Reno for NACD’s 62nd Annual Meeting or you were there and want to revisit the presentations you attended, there are several recently-added resources available on our post-conference website at http://www.nacdnet.org/events/annualmeeting/resources/.
Renovation Ride Information – Five NACD staffers have agreed to ride 258 miles in five days to support NACD’s 509 Capitol Court Campaign. Ride details and downloadable pledge cards are available at http://www.nacdnet.org/events/509campaign/ride/. Following the campaign launch in Reno, NACD members, friends and partners have pledged almost $40,000 to the riders. Check back later this week for a list of pledges and contributors—and don’t forget to donate while you’re there!
Appropriations Funding Request Letters – NACD submitted appropriations funding request letters to both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives at the end of January. The letters, as well as issue papers on our top three appropriations priorities, are available at http://www.nacdnet.org/policy/appropriations/fy09/.

9. NACD Calendar of Events
June 8-10, 2008, NACD Northern Plains Region Leaders Meeting, Nebraska City, NE
July 18-23, 2008, NACD Summer Board Meeting and Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.
Aug. 3-5, 2008, Northeast Region Meeting, Portsmouth, NH

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