Recent Articles

by NACD Forestry Manager Annica McGuirk Conservation districts are using Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) agreements to achieve shared goals with federal partners, deliver meaningful outcomes for local communities, and leverage diverse funding opportunities. To help more districts explore how GNA can work in practice, NACD hosted a three-part webinar series this fall featuring conservation district… Continue reading →

You may not hear many farmers and producers talking about their mental health, but you should know that, like anyone else, they are at risk of suffering depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.   Farmers today are under an increasing number of stressors: many commodity prices have fallen in recent years, labor and other input costs have… Continue reading →

By Caroline Wade, Executive Director, Saving Tomorrow's Agriculture Resources (STAR) Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources (STAR) is a national scale framework for conservation evaluation, implementation, and coordination that supports technical assistance providers and streamlines conservation progress for producers. It is available for cropland in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah and… Continue reading →

By Candice Abinanti, NACD Director of Communications in collaboration with the NACD Natural Resources Committee  Land conversion and the loss of working lands to residential subdivisions, solar arrays, data centers, and other development are concerns NACD hears from conservation districts across the country. The American Farmland Trust’s report, Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future, states that “From 2001–2016, our nation lost or compromised 2,000 acres of farmland and ranchland… Continue reading →

By Nicole Poitra, NACD Northern Plains Region Representative At the foot of Montana’s Crazy Mountains in Big Timber, Dan and Tami Sanders are transforming their leased 500-acre ranch along the Yellowstone River into a working model of regenerative agriculture. Guided by the wisdom of local ranchers and supported by modern soil-health practices, they’re blending tradition… Continue reading →

by the Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District Lake County, Minnesota, bordered by Lake Superior, the Superior National Forest, and the Boundary Waters, is a landscape where forests dominate and clean water is abundant. With less than a quarter of the county in private ownership, each private acre plays a crucial role in maintaining… Continue reading →

By Wesley Gibson, NACD South Central Region Representative and  Molly Wozniak, Genesee CD Invasive Species Coordinator  For the past year and a half, the Genesee Conservation District’s invasive species program—the Genesee Lapeer Livingston and Shiawassee Counties Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (GiLLS CISMA)—has been working to get a handle on the red swamp crayfish showing up in… Continue reading →

Did you know that one of NACD’s core functions is to advocate for policies that support conservation districts and our partners at the national level? NACD maintains a policy book to inform all the legislative work NACD staff and board members carry out. Leadership uses the policy book to develop issue papers; committees and subcommittees… Continue reading →

By Nicole Poitra, NACD Northern Plains Region Representative Across Montana, foresters, conservation districts, and local leaders are coming together to spark an important conversation about the future of the state’s forests. At the center of that discussion are two longtime foresters, Jim Simpson and Gordy Sanders, who launched the effort called “Which Montana Do You… Continue reading →

By Ellie Stuckrath, NACD Communications Coordinator, and Allie Hostler, KTRCD District Coordinator When the Klamath Trinity Resource Conservation District (KTRCD) formed in 2007, economic development, food security, and tribal sovereignty were just as integral to their mission as natural resources conservation.    Food Hub   For KTRCD, fostering tribal food sovereignty meant creating and maintaining sustainable markets for farmers. Thus, the… Continue reading →