On Sunday, April 25, NACD kicked off its 66th Annual Stewardship Week, celebrating the theme "Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities."

You can help promote the importance of trees by visiting our Stewardship Week webpage and downloading our educational resources, promotional materials, activity guides, webinars and more. Let us know how you're celebrating Stewardship Week by emailing stewardship@nacdnet.org.

“We congratulate the conservation districts named as leads for this year’s RCPP projects, as well as those who work in cooperation with other project leads to help accomplish RCPP goals,” NACD President Michael Crowder said.

Conservation districts are listed as leads for at least 10 projects: Ottawa Conservation District (Mich.); Cascadia Conservation District (Wash.); Dane County Land and Water Resources Department (Wisc.); Little Snake River Conservation District (Wyo.); New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts (N.M.); Roberts Conservation District (S.D.); Cheyenne County Conservation District (Kan.); Highland Soil and Water Conservation District (Ohio); South Kona Soil and Water Conservation District (Hawaii); and Mission Resource Conservation District (Calif.), but also serve as collaborators on other projects.

View the full press release and list of conservation districts in NACD's Newsroom.

On April 21, NACD applauded the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s changes to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

Secretary Tom Vilsack announced several changes to the program to incentivize participation, including adjusting rental rates and introducing a variety of incentive payments, including a climate incentive payment.

“Inadequate compensation for landowners has led to low enrollment in the program in the past year," NACD President Michael Crowder said. "These increased rental rates and incentives are critical to ensuring farmers are appropriately compensated for participating in CRP. With these incentives in place, we hope to see full enrollment in the program.”

Read the full press release in NACD's Newsroom.

On Earth Day, NACD announced the formation of a Climate Action Task Force to assess current and emerging climate policy opportunities and make recommendations to NACD’s leadership that utilize the technical knowledge and expertise of conservation districts as part of the U.S. solution to the global climate crisis.

“Conservation districts provide an invaluable service in all communities across the U.S. and stand ready to amplify the work yet to be done for the strength of our nation in three important areas: climate mitigation, wildfire preparedness and environmental services,” said NACD President Michael Crowder.

“We’ve known since the first conservation districts were created in the 1930s that soil can be made healthy again,” he said. “It’s important to keep locally-led conservation at the forefront of U.S. climate mitigation efforts to set strong direction that also serves the needs of local communities.”

President Crowder selected NACD Immediate Past President Tim Palmer to lead the task force, which combines the unique experiences and perspectives of diverse, nationally leading conservation experts on natural resource systems, including cropland, grassland, forestry, tribal lands and urban agriculture, across all parts of the American landscape, to propose new ideas for how conservation districts and our partners can support communities in this area of increased need and opportunity.

View the full press release, including the full list of members here. Learn more about the task force on NACD's website.

“NACD is encouraged by the proposals to strengthen funding for conservation,” NACD President Michael Crowder said. “President Biden’s budget includes significant investments within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Forest Service that will bolster voluntary conservation across the country.”

“NACD is hopeful that as the full budget is released in May, increased funding will go toward important programs like Conservation Operations and Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), which help NRCS increase capacity at the local level,” Crowder said. “Local NRCS staff, alongside conservation district employees, work directly with landowners to create conservation plans and implement conservation practices to address our nation’s diverse natural resource concerns in a changing climate.”

Read the full press release at NACD's Newsroom.

As NACD celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year, we are releasing a special monthly newsletter highlighting conservation districts' successes over the years.

Entitled "Diamonds Out of the Dust: 75 Years of Conservation District Success Stories," this monthly newsletter features stories submitted by conservation districts and state/territory associations across the nation. In the April edition, we highlighted the Westmoreland Conservation District's 2020 Farmer of the Year, NACD's former Northern Plains Region Executive Board Member Bevin Law and Maine's demonstration forests. You'll also learn about Steven Meeks, Virginia's representative for NACD's Board of Directors, who holds more than 30 years of experience with conservation districts.

Learn more about our 75th Anniversary campaign and view all past newsletters here. To be featured in the newsletter, share your district's success story by submitting this online form.

In 2020, the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (RSWCD), located in Columbia, S.C, launched a Seed Sanctuary through the “Re-Seeding Richland” project. The project received funding support from the Friends of NACD District Grants Program to establish this free seed-share program.

Read more about the project in this blog post. Want to help conservation districts fund impactful projects like this one? Become a Friend of NACD here.

Carl Struck and Johanne Riddick’s Ponderosa restoration effort in New Mexico has grown into a diverse, robust ecosystem. Recently, Struck and Riddick have been recognized as NACD Soil Health Champions for their work.

“Our initial management goals did not include supporting and increasing soil health,” Struck said. “The condition of the soils came into focus later. We had a nice, uneven-age stand, but after looking closely at the soils, we became concerned with biodiversity and ways to support microorganisms.”

Struck and Riddick purchased Spirit Hill in 1987, not knowing the complete history of the property or how depleted the soils were. Initially, their goal was to restore the 40-acre Ponderosa pine forest, which stands at an elevation of 8,500-feet, southeast of Peñasco. Once they started, Struck said, it inadvertently turned into soil health efforts.

Read the full story at NACD's blog.

Don't forget, National Arbor Day is Friday, April 30! Each year, Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday of April and encourages communities to recognize the importance of trees by participating in activities like tree planting and sharing educational resources.

As part of this year's Stewardship Week, we are celebrating the importance of trees all week long with our theme, "Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities."

For ideas on how to celebrate the importance of forest conservation, visit NACD's website. Learn more about Arbor Day by visiting the Arbor Day Foundation's website.

On April 20, R.D. "Sonny" Jones from Monticello, Ark., passed away at the age of 79.

With a long, dedicated career in logging, Jones was also involved with state, regional and national organizations, working to preserve natural resources. He served as president of the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts (AACD) and on NACD's Executive Board.

In 2011, he was inducted into AACD's Hall of Fame for his lifelong dedication to forestry and conservation in Arkansas and NACD's South Central Region.

NACD recognizes Jones's life, his dedication to conservation, and his service to NACD. View the memorial page here.

Looking for ways to engage creatively in support of pollinator conservation? Download P2's Pollinator Week Toolkit to learn how you can get involved.

To learn more and download the toolkit, visit P2's website.

To learn more and apply, visit NRCS's website.

The first-ever report includes ESMC's membership highlights, staff and program growth and more. For example, ESMC expanded its program buildout and coverage to six of 12 U.S. regions and launched six more pilot projects for a total of eight pilots across various major crop and livestock systems throughout the country.

To learn more and view the report, click here.

New "Conservation Tillage and Soil Health" Video from SARE

“Conservation Tillage and Soil Health” provides a short, animated outline of the basic principles of conservation tillage that can be used to introduce or complement more detailed training materials.

To learn more and view the video, click here.

Are you looking for good quality products to keep your drinks cold and carry all your belongings?

NACD is now offering ORCA coolers and totes. Built for true outdoor enthusiasts, these coolers and totes are designed to meet all your travelling needs, from week-long camping trips to field day trainings and everywhere in between.

Platinum, diamond and gold level NACD members making a single purchase of $100 or more from the Marketplace can benefit from 20 percent, 15 percent and 10 percent discounts, respectively.

To learn more about NACD's membership incentives and levels of discounts, please visit NACD's Membership webpage or email us at stewardship@nacdnet.org.

Promote your conservation district or state association's tree sale, annual meeting, webinar, field day or more on NACD's Calendar of Events!