Stewardship

By Candice Abinanti In Henry County, Ky., “tobacco paid the bills for a long time,” remarks Curtis Coombs (pictured left), a soil conservation technician covering Henry and Oldham Counties. Located northeast of Louisville and bordered on the east by the Kentucky River, Henry County’s primary crop used to be tobacco. Over the years, tobacco has…… Continue reading →

By Sunni Heikes-Knapton Pollinators don’t worry about pandemics. Stay-at-home orders and social isolation aren’t stopping the bees, butterflies, bats and moths from doing their important tasks in our landscape. Similarly, our nation’s conservation districts also continue their valuable work during a challenging time, even on efforts that help those same pollinators to keep working.   For…… Continue reading →

By Diana Blackwood What do tomatoes, basil, coffee and alfalfa have in common? On the surface, it appears to be very little. However, there is one thing they do share: They all owe their existence to the service of pollinators. Grocery stores would be rather empty without the hard work of bees, birds, butterflies, bats…… Continue reading →

Conservation districts now have a new tool in their toolkit for teaching the important topic of pollinators.  NACD has released a free, first-of-its-kind curriculum, “A Guide to Conducting a Pollinator Conservation Field Day,” which is available for download through NACD’s new Conservation Education Hub. The guide was developed through support from the David Rockefeller Fund…… Continue reading →

By Josie Fuentes Despite the warm temperatures, local supporters were not deterred from showing up to celebrate the Duval Soil and Water Conservation District’s (SWCD) 66th anniversary. Local sponsors, community advocates, city council members and members of the public were all present at the rooftop deck of Intuition Ale Works in the downtown Urban Core.…… Continue reading →

By Sunni Heikes-Knapton, NACD Northern Plains Region Representative Sometimes long roads are metaphorical, and sometimes they are literal. During the last days of April, both kinds of roads were a theme for a group of Montanans who gathered in Lewistown. Brought together by a keen interest in natural resource education, the assembly was part of…… Continue reading →

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (MDNRC) recently published the below article. NACD thanks Linda Brander, a resource specialist for the Conservation Districts Bureau within MDNRC, for the opportunity to republish this story on our blog. [caption id="attachment_30163" align="alignright" width="200"] Doug and Ronda Bonsell. Photo by Jesse Scott, Ekalaka, Mont.[/caption] By John Grassy, Montana Department of Natural…… Continue reading →

Editor's note: This blog is the second part in a series. Click here to read the first installment. By Laura Demmel Agricultural sustainability could be defined as “natural resource stewardship practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.1” Conservation districts work toward this goal…… Continue reading →

Note from the editor: This blog is the first of a two-part series. By Laura Demmel A conversation has been brewing for years on the topic of agricultural sustainability. As consumers care more and more about where their food comes from, the entire food and agriculture industry has responded. From the farm level to the…… Continue reading →

By Edward Hutschenreuter Farmers with land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) may now have a new environmentally beneficial option for satisfying their contract requirements. On November 9, Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri introduced the “CRP Grazing Flexibility Act” (H.R. 4298), which would allow farmers to graze livestock on their enrolled CRP acreage as an…… Continue reading →