NACD Government Affairs Update: Final Rule Conforms WOTUS Definition to Supreme Court Decision 09/05/2023
By Libby Wawro, NACD Natural Resource Policy Specialist On August 29, 2023 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) published a press release about the “final rule to amend the final “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ (WOTUS) rule," published in the Federal Register in January.…… Continue reading →
Central Texas SWCD Addresses Local Natural Resource Concerns 06/13/2023
The Central Texas Soil and Water Conservation District (CTSWCD) is situated in one of the most productive ecoregions of Texas. Houston Black soil is one of the reasons this region is so productive, but with the soil’s blessings also comes its curse. Houston Black soil, though nutrient dense, can also be highly erodible. The CTSWCD…… Continue reading →
Hillsborough Conservation District in Florida Proactive On 2023 Farm Bill 05/23/2023
By: Betty Jo Tompkins, Hillsboro Soil and Water Conservation District Executive Director Members of the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District (HSWCD) returned from the recent NACD fly-in with one mission in mind: to ensure every district in their state contacted members of their Congressional delegation to encourage full support for agriculture and conservation funding…… Continue reading →
NACD Summer Conservation Forum & Tours TA Grant Participant: Diana Olson 11/25/2022
This blog post is part of a seven-part series highlighting technical assistance (TA) grant recipient participation at NACD’s Summer Conservation Forum and Tours in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This post’s author, Diana Olson of the Popo Agie Conservation District in WY, attended the meeting with a TA stipend. From the tropical location of Puerto Rico,…… Continue reading →
Wetland Restoration Helps Wisconsin “Slow the Flow” to the Great Lakes 11/04/2022
The good health of the Great Lakes and their freshwater estuaries depends also upon the health of the watersheds and rivers that drain into them. In Wisconsin, conservation partners have a long history of taking a proactive approach to implementing upstream conservation practices to help improve downstream water quality and the health of Lake Michigan,…… Continue reading →
Ocean County SCD and Barnegat Bay Partnership Realize Shared Natural Resource Management Goals 10/25/2022
In the United States, 29 percent of the population or approximately eighty-seven million people live in coastline counties. Coastal communities, and the country at large, depend on the health of our watersheds for food, water, recreation, and more. To protect and restore the resources of our country’s coastlines and estuaries, Congress established the National Estuary…… Continue reading →
50 Years of the Clean Water Act: Oxford County SWCD Water Quality Projects in the Androscoggin River Watershed 10/18/2022
October 2022 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. The Androscoggin River’s declining water quality in the 1960s and 70s was the inspiration for Ed Muskie to draft the Clean Water Act in 1972. The river was a receptacle for paper mill waste, sewage, and stormwater runoff from uncontrolled development for most of…… Continue reading →
NACD Annual Meeting TA Grant Participant: Kalani Fortina 06/24/2022
This blog post is part of a nine-part series highlighting technical assistance (TA) grant recipient participation at NACD’s 76th Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. This post’s author, Kalani Fortina of Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District in NE, attended the meeting as a TA speaker. This year, for the first time, NACD offered stipends to 2019…… Continue reading →
Kansas Conservation Districts Embracing a New Platform: Podcasts 04/26/2022
Kansas Conservation Districts are getting the word out about natural resource conservation in a whole new way. In a podcast through Great Plains Regeneration and the High Plains Journal, underwritten by the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Conservation (DOC), host Jessica Gnad interviewed two of the state’s greatest conservation leaders: Rod Voorhees and Daryl…… Continue reading →
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding Opportunities: NRCS Watershed Programs 01/10/2022
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act recently passed both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by President Biden. The infrastructure package includes billions of dollars in investments for the resilience of natural systems. NACD’s Government Affairs Team will be releasing a series of blog posts to break down funding opportunities for districts through…… Continue reading →