HAVE YOU RSVPED FOR NACD’s FLY-IN?

We are a month away from NACD’s 2017 Legislative Fly-In on March 21. If you haven’t made plans to attend, you have until March 7, 2017 to RSVP!

While NACD works hard to be your advocate in Washington, D.C., nothing can replace in-person meetings between you – the conservation district officials who do the critical work of implementing and promoting conservation on the ground – and your members of Congress.

If you have any questions about where you should stay, how to get around the city, or the best way to schedule meetings with your members of Congress, please visit our Fly-In webpage or reach out to Director of Government Affairs Coleman Garrison at coleman-garrison@nacdnet.org.

A QUICK NOTE ON OUR ANNUAL MEETING

NACD sent attendees a highlight reel of our 71st Annual Meeting in Denver last week. If you didn’t receive it, here are two of the most important take-aways:

Visit NACD’s Newsroom…. To find 2017 meeting resources, including recaps of the week’s activities, four press releases, links to photos, presentations, and archived video of our general sessions, Expo Stage presentations, and Appreciation Banquet.

Complete the Annual Meeting survey… To help us improve next year’s meeting experience! Please take a few minutes to complete our brief 10-question survey on your annual meeting experience.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES!

NACD is pleased to support bipartisan legislation reintroduced last week in both the Senate and House to exempt America’s conservationists from SAM and DUNS requirements. These time-consuming requirements unnecessarily complicate conservation delivery and can discourage landowners from participating in NRCS cost-share programs.

To read the full press release, head to our Newsroom.

NACD TRAVELS TO NASHVILLE FOR NWTF CONFERENCE

Last week, NACD’s Government Affairs Associate Chris Heck attended the 41st Annual National Wild Turkey Federation Convention, participating in the Conservation Conference. Thursday morning entailed a plenary session with U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, State Wildlife Agencies, American Forest Foundation, Hunting Heritage, and the Wildlife Management Institute. The rest of the conference consisted of presentations and discussion on state action plans, leveraging partnerships, threatened and endangered species, and prescribed fire.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ENVIROTHON ALUM SERVES AS DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST

Melissa Erdman, the NRCS district conservationist for Juniata County in Pennsylvania, has been with the agency for 12 years now – owing her start in voluntary conservation to Envirothon.

“Envirothon is near and dear to my heart. Both my sister and I joined as 5th graders and stayed in the club until we graduated from high school. It went from being ‘just for fun,’ to ‘fun and interesting,’ to ‘fun, interesting, and I want to go to college for this stuff.’”

“As a high school senior, my Envirothon advisor’s wife, Tamara Wagner, worked for USDA-NRCS and she came in after school and gave a presentation on soils. Tamara (later) got me an application to be a student trainee with NRCS, and I started at our local field office in Pottsville just after graduating high school. I interned with NRCS in the summer while I attended Penn State, eventually deciding to major in agricultural science.”

“I never would have known about NRCS without the people I met through Envirothon. To ‘pay it forward,’ every year I try to do a soils study session with the local high school Envirothon clubs.”

If you or someone you know has participated in or volunteered for Envirothon, NACD wants to hear your stories! Please contact Director of Development Melisa Augusto to learn how you can have your story featured in an upcoming edition of eResource.