NEWS RELEASE

NACD Releases Report on the Impacts of Recent Executive Orders on the Locally Led Conservation Delivery System 

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) has released a report about the impacts of recent Executive Orders and funding freezes on America’s locally led conservation delivery system, including conservation districts and the producers and communities they serve. The report was informed by a survey the association distributed to conservation districts last month, which received over 350 responses from across 45 states and territories. 

Informed by the survey responses, the report underscores three major themes: 

• The funding freeze has widespread impacts on producers, conservation, and local economies. 

• NRCS terminations and staffing shortages will have long-term impacts on the quality and timeliness of technical assistance and overall service. 

• We must act to protect partnerships and the future of the voluntary, locally led conservation delivery system. 

The federal funding pause is also having impacts on infrastructure, and placing strain on state, Tribal, and local governments. In response to the survey, conservation districts across the country shared concern for projects that have been put on hold. These include projects to repair high-hazard dams, recover from and mitigate future impacts of wildfires, and replace culverts and other water systems to maintain water quality. 

The report also includes an extensive collection of anonymized quotes from conservation districts. These quotes explore the varied impacts of these actions across the country.  

Many respondents commented on the termination of federal employees, deeply concerned about the lost investment in communities, reduced productivity, and diminished quality and timeliness of service to America’s producers. “Good, qualified employees were hired over the last year and were making a positive impact on our situation,” said one conservation district. “These same employees were the ones that were fired in the first round […]. Losing these valuable employees directly effects the ability of the agency to fulfill the existing contracts with our same producers that are struggling to exist.” 

Other respondents noted critical impacts are not always obvious at first glance. “Our county had the most NRCS EQIP [Environmental Quality Incentives Program] contracts in the state last year,” said another conservation district that then detailed potential impacts to public health. “We are in a sensitive ecological area, and cover crops and no-till have taken off in a big way as a way to continue dairy production in the area while also protecting our groundwater. Our e-coli positive wells have decreased significantly in recent years, in part due to large-scale practice shifts. I am deeply concerned about the effect that funding loss will have on our groundwater and public health; a hidden cost that doesn’t show up in a farm balance sheet.” 

Read the report and more quotes from respondents that detail impacts on producers, communities and local economies, conservation district operations, staffing, and more here. 

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About the National Association of Conservation Districts: 

The National Association of Conservation Districts is the nonprofit organization that represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, their state and territory associations and the 17,000 individuals who serve on their governing boards. For more than 80 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit: www.nacdnet.org.