Program Spotlights
- Carbon Farming in Napa County
News & Announcements
- Napa RCD Scholarship for Emerging Environmental Leaders
- January Rainfall Summary
- Volunteer Training Series - Invasive Weed Removal
- Staff Spotlight: Eric McKee
In Case You Missed It
- Napa Lighted Arts Festival
- Suscol Intertribal Council Offers Workforce Training
- North Coast Soil Hub Winter Newsletter
- NBWA Announces 2022 Virtual Conference
Upcoming Programs
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Carbon Farming Impacts in Napa County
by Miguel Garcia, PhD - Sustainable Agriculture Program Manager
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In 2017, Napa RCD created the first Carbon Farm Plan for Vineyards. That's kind of a big deal! But what on earth does that mean? What is a carbon farm plan?
Let's take a step back. What's the carbon cycle?
The carbon cycle is the exchange of carbon among the earth, soils, oceans and waterbodies, the atmosphere, and living things. As part of the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is captured and stored in agricultural soils in the form of organic matter. This is called carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which can help mitigate global climate change. Agricultural activities can lead to increases or decreases in soil carbon, and in turn this leads to increases or decreases of CO2 in the atmosphere. For example, practices such as tillage and use of fuel-burning agricultural equipment release CO2 into the atmosphere, while maintaining living roots for extended periods of time and minimizing soil disturbance can decrease CO2 in the atmosphere.
Okay, so what is a Carbon Farm Plan?
The implementation of land management practices that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or enhance the ability of soils to sequester carbon is called “Carbon Farming.” A Carbon Farm Plan (CFP) strategizes a farm’s approach to carbon farming. It helps farmers make decisions about how to invest in practices to get the most climate bang for the buck. Since organic carbon is at the center of fundamental physical, biological, and chemical mechanisms in the soil, increasing soil carbon through Carbon Farming has the potential to improve soil health, enhance crop production, minimize runoff and erosion, improve soil water-holding capacity, increase infiltration, build climate resiliency, and increase biodiversity.
What does it look like to create a Carbon Farm Plan?
The first step in the carbon farm planning process is to do an inventory of all soil management practices and GHG emission sources on the farm. Next, opportunities to enhance soil carbon sequestration and reduce GHG emissions are identified. The farmer’s goals and economic considerations help prioritize practices from the many opportunities that may exist. The third step is implementation. Napa RCD works with farmers to identify funding sources to pay for the practices and provide technical assistance for implementation. Over time, Napa RCD works with farmers to reevaluate and update the CFP to reflect changing objectives and implementation opportunities.
For Napa RCD, the carbon farm planning process is a year-round effort but most of the work is completed during the vine dormant season in the winter to coincide with farmers’ availability. During this time of the year, Napa RCD is mostly focused on conducting site visits and beginning the writing process for ongoing plans. At the moment, Napa RCD is accepting applications from anyone interested in developing a carbon farm plan. Contact Miguel@NapaRCD.org to get started.
To date, Napa RCD has been able to offer assistance in the development and implementation of carbon farm plans at no cost to farmers, thanks to grants and donations that the organization has secured. Napa RCD continues working to secure future founding that would allow them to continue offering these services at low or no cost.
How has Carbon Farming impacted Napa County?
Since 2017, Napa RCD has assisted farmers in developing and implementing a total of 52 carbon farm plans. Combined, these plans cover 3,936 acres and guide farmers towards sequestering about 18,437 metric tons of CO2 every year. This is equivalent to the CO2 produced every year by about 3,900 typical passenger vehicles.
Demand for carbon farm plans has grown tremendously in the past four years, as local farmers are seeing the value that their farms have in being part of the climate solution. An important milestone for carbon farming locally was that Napa Green is now requiring a carbon farm plan as part of its vineyard certification program. Napa RCD is training Napa Green staff to help farmers develop plans, so that more farms can start taking strategic climate action.
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Napa RCD Scholarship for Emerging Environmental Leaders
• Special Announcement •
Accepting Applications Until April 1, 2022
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Napa RCD's Scholarship celebrates the contributions of young leaders who have partnered with us to care for Napa County’s land, water, soil, wildlife, and people. As the go-to-hub for conservation in our community, Napa RCD is honored to recognize, activate, and empower the next generation of environmental stewards.
Our Scholarship is open to students graduating from any high school, high school equivalent, or GED program in Napa County. Priority consideration will be given to students who have actively participated in Napa RCD programs or activities beyond required classroom presentations and field trips.
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Special Announcement!
Thanks to a generous donation from the Freed Family Fund of Napa Valley Community Foundation, FIVE $1,000 awards will be granted during the 2021-22 school year. Deadline to apply is 11pm on April 1, 2022.
For more information and to apply, please
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Here are two other conservation-focused scholarship opportunities available here in Napa County:
Darcy Aston Environmental Advocacy Scholarship
from the Environmental Education Coalition of Napa County
Napa-Solano Audubon Society Scholarship
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January Rainfall Summary
Paul Blank, Napa RCD Environmental Scientist
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January brought two small storms and four days of measurable rainfall to the Napa Valley. Rainfall totals at the County ALERT monitoring stations (napa.onerain.com) were well below average for the month, ranging between 0.7 and 1.8 inches, approximately 2.6% of mean annual precipitation. On average, we get 19% of our annual rainfall during the month of January.
So far in Water Year 2021-22 (beginning October 1), we’ve received approximately 70% of our annual rainfall, which remains above the long-term average of 55% for this time of year. Seasonal rainfall totals at the rain gauges range between 18.5 inches (Mt. George) and 35.7 inches (Mt. Veeder).
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Volunteer Training Series:
Invasive Weed Removal
with the Napa County Weed Management Area
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The Napa County Weed Management Area (WMA), a local coalition of government agencies, nonprofits, and community members, has put together a series of workshops for volunteers interested in invasive weed removal.
We are excited to skill-up volunteers to help us manage some of the most terrible weeds in our county. Trained volunteers will have the opportunity to work with a variety of land managers in regular weed-pull events in the future.
Each workshop in the series will focus on one or two different invasive species. Attendees will learn how to ID each plant, as well as how it got here and how widespread it is. Attendees will also take part in removing the invasive species of focus for that day.
This 5-part series is hosted by Napa RCD, Napa County Regional Parks and Open Space District, City of Napa Parks and Recreation, Land Trust of Napa County, Friends of Westwood Hills Park, and the Napa County Ag Commissioner's office.
Save these dates:
Feb 19 • Westwood Hills Park
March 5 • The Cove
May 21 • Missimer Preserve
June 4 • Wildlake Preserve
December TBD • Moore Creek Park
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Staff Spotlight:
Eric McKee, Education Project Manager
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Eric started working at Napa RCD in the wake of 2014's South Napa Earthquake.
Although Eric has been with us for an impressive 7 years, he wasn't new to environmental education when he joined the team. His story in this space goes back over 20 years, when he was a Nature Counselor for a summer camp at the age of 16.
Eric is currently the Napa RCD's Education Project Manager. He oversees all of our school and youth education programs, and is entrenched in fundraising, grant writing, program development, and program dreaming! Eric is also helping form Napa RCD's Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion goals.
Right now, Eric is working on implementing the Salmon To Sanctuary program with Napa County’s continuation high schools, as well as the Acorns To Oaks program, both involving students participating in actions to support ecosystem health.
One of the things that Eric is most looking forward to in the coming year is supporting the development of the Horns Canyon Outdoor Education Center, a new space in Calistoga for students to connect with nature and learn about their home environment. He's also excited to create opportunities for teen internships, as demand from students for these work-training experiences has grown. Eric loves finding ways to get students involved in environmental leadership and motivate youth to pursue conservation careers in the future.
When he's not building on his knowledge of environmental education, Eric loves to cook! One of his current favorite recipes is Spicy Peanut Thai Noodles - Cooking Classy because it is delicious, requires very little cooking, and is great cold or on-the-go.
We asked Eric to share one more thing about himself that is unrelated to his job here at Napa RCD. This is what he wanted to share:
"I won 2 cornhole tournaments with the City of Napa’s Parks and Recreation, with friends from the Water Division and Department of Planning, Building, and Environmental Services."
Congrats on those wins, Eric, and cheers to many more years creating learning experiences for the youth of Napa County!
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Napa Lighted Arts Festival Happening Now!
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The Napa Lighted Art Festival is a celebration of creative arts, technology and lights, and supports innovative techniques using light and light technologies as a growing art medium. This walkable outdoor experience is FREE in downtown Napa featuring eight lighted art sculptures for eight weeks.
The sculptures will be up for viewing until March 13, 2022. You can download a map of the installations here.
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Suscol Intertribal Council
Workforce Trainings
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Suscol Intertribal Council is offering a great opportunity to learn fundamentals in fire prevention, water conservation, erosion control, and identification of native plants.
Internship stipends available.
Session 1:
2/19 & 2/26, 3/12 & 3/19 and 4/9 & 4/16
Session 2:
5/14 & 5/21, 6/11 & 6/18 and 7/9 & 7/16
To sign up and for more information contact:
call 707-256-3561
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North Coast Soil Hub Winter Newsletter
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The Winter 2022 North Coast Soil Hub Newsletter is out and ready to read! Take a look and find out what's happening here in the North Coast as we expand to include more than vineyards!
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North Bay Watershed Association
2022 Virtual Conference
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Save the Date:
April 8, 2022
9am-3pm
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March 5: WMA Invasive Weed Pull at the Cove
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Did you know that we have a separate email list for volunteers?
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Help support Napa RCD - Donate Today!
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Napa County Resource Conservation District | 707-252-4189 | NapaRCD.org
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