2018 Technical Assistance Grants

By Katrina Stacey Thanks to a 2018 NACD Technical Assistance Grant, the Oconee Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) has been able to address a backlog of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) requests and contracts in South Carolina. “It helped us get some engineering designs completed, so that we could get those out the door…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus In northern Florida where the primary natural resource concerns are water quantity and quality, technical assistance is key to helping producers address those concerns. The Suwannee County Soil and Water Conservation District, through NACD Technical Assistance Grants, has been crucial in boosting technical assistance capacity in the area. Not only has the…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus [caption id="attachment_37139" align="alignleft" width="377"] Knable-Thompson assisting a customer at a district booth.[/caption] In 2018, thanks to a 2018 NACD Technical Assistance (TA) Grant, the Dubois County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) in Indiana hired a program support technician to help with a variety of conservation planning and practices. However, when applying…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) is an extremely environmentally sensitive area that loses approximately half an inch of soil every year. In this area, sugarcane and vegetable rotations are extremely prevalent, and unlike the rest of southern Florida, most of the soils are organic/muck soils. Here, irrigation water management plans are crucial…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus In Marathon County, Wisconsin, the use of managed grazing practices is a critical piece of the conservation puzzle. The Marathon County Conservation Planning and Zoning (CPZ) Department plays a crucial role in teaching farmers about these sustainable practices and helping them develop and implement their own plans. 2018 and 2019 NACD Technical…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus [caption id="attachment_36554" align="alignleft" width="331"] The Warrior Run Watershed Team at the Warrior Run Breakfast: Janette Lesher, Axel Acevedo, Ashley Lenig, Pam Richardson, Brandon Ball, Ryan Cherwinski, Chanel Shambach and Graham Rhone[/caption] In 2018, the Warrior Run Watershed, located in the northern part of Northumberland County in Pennsylvania, was selected to be part…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus Through NACD Technical Assistance (TA) Grants, the Washington County Soil Conservation District in Tennessee has been able to boost its technical assistance programs to landowners, improve its office functions, and continue work on its outreach programs. [caption id="attachment_36518" align="alignleft" width="378"] Maggie Swonger measuring forage height.[/caption] When the district received its first grant…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus Since 1972, the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District (MNNRD) has been devoted to helping solve natural resource issues in their area. Many of those issues revolve around erosion and water quality in the Long Pine Creek Watershed. This watershed, which is found in north central Nebraska, encompasses approximately 332,000 acres, many of…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus Thanks to an NACD Technical Assistance (TA) Grant, the Sonoma Resource Conservation District (RCD) in California has their first ever professional forester. The district had wanted to bring someone on for a while, but they didn’t have the funds until 2018, when they were awarded their first TA grant. The grant allowed…… Continue reading →

By Katrina Vaitkus In 2018, Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) in Minnesota was able to hire Mark Greve as their soil and water engineer-in-training thanks to an NACD Technical Assistance (TA) Grant. The district had previously been lacking the technical support for conservation practices that required engineering tasks such as surveying and…… Continue reading →