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April 29, 2008
Districts are an important ingredient in the nation’s concern to help the earth. Be sure to let your community know of the work your district has been doing for many decades and how your district has helped make your community a better place. Stewardship Week is an opportunity to showcase the efforts of your conservation district. NACD wants to know about your activities, too. Click here and fill out a short survey about your own stewardship outreach efforts. Send photos with short captions to stewardship@nacdnet.org. Survey results will be gathered and shared on NACD’s website. Check back on the NACD website in June for Stewardship Success Stories and get ideas for next year’s Stewardship outreach activities. Additional water education ideas are available at http://www.nacdnet.org/stewardship/2008/. It’s never too early to start planning for 2009 Stewardship! NACD plans to have all of the products in the NACD online marketplace by the middle of August, so make a note to get your soils education materials order in early this year. Water is Life bookmarks are also still available at NACD’s online store (www.nacdstore.org) and are great as awards for participants of summer events like library summer reading programs. 2. Questions Surround Farm Bill Deal This afternoon, Agriculture Secretary Schafer stated that the President would veto the Farm Bill if it remains in this form. Subsequently, today’s meeting of the Farm Bill conference has been postponed. Discussions continue behind closed doors. General information on the Conservation Title remains the same, with an expected $4 billion increase in conservation spending. The details of the program revisions and other elements of the Farm Bill have not been disclosed. We will keep you posted with the latest developments. 3. FWS Extends Deadline for Submission of Sage Grouse Information The new deadline to submit information is now June 27, 2008. FWS encourages the public or other interested parties to submit any information on sage grouse across its range, which includes portions of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. NACD is currently working with western conservation districts and state associations to coordinate comments. For specific directions on how your organization or district can submit information to FWS, go to http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/E8-3374.html. To read the most recent FWS notice of the deadline extension, click here. 4. Registration Opens for Summer Legislative Conference
Registration and additional information are available at http://www.nacdnet.org/events/legconference/. Be sure to check out the draft agenda and register today to secure your spot at the conference and on the tours! 5. Kentucky District Awarded Forest Service Funds for a Youth Program The Forest Service created the More Kids in the Woods grant program to encourage environmental education by getting kids outdoors. This year’s 16 grant winners were chosen from 270 applications and received a total of half-million dollars in funding, which will top $2 million when combined with matching funds from partners. Partners in these projects represent schools, environmental and youth non-profit organizations, Native American Tribes, and other federal, state and local governments. The other grant winning projects can be viewed on the Forest Service’s website at http://www.fs.fed.us/kidsclimatechange/kidsprojects.shtml. 6. Bureau of Land Management Revises NEPA Handbook Click here to read the official BLM press release regarding the handbook revisions, or to view a copy of the revised NEPA handbook, click here. 7. NOAA Announces Update to Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program Guidelines Comments on the CELCP guidelines can be submitted until June 9, 2008. More information can be found on the NOAA website at http://coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/land/celcp_indepth.html. 8. Save the Date for 2008 NAAEE Environmental Education Conference NACD is part of the conservation education commission that is planning a pre-conference workshop to be held on October 15. The workshop will focus on how to conduct conservation outreach events. NACD will also set up a time for conservation district staff to gather while at the 2008 NAAEE conference. Additional conference strands include Conservation Education; Art, Culture and Environmental Education; Best Practices for Advancing Environmental Education; Early Childhood Education; Energy Education; Environmental Justice, Environmental Health, and Climate Change; Food, Agriculture and Environmental Education; and Religion, Spirituality and Environmental Education. Registration opens June 2008! Learn more at http://www.naaee.org/conference. If you plan to attend or have conservation outreach events and ideas you would like to share, contact Susan Schultz at (317) 326-2952 or stewardship@nacdnet.org.9. NACD Calendar of Events |
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