Conservation Clips is a weekly collection of articles distributed by NACD that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what's driving conservation. These articles are not indicative of NACD policy and are the opinions of their authors, unless otherwise noted. If you have a relevant submission or need assistance with accessing articles, please contact NACD Communications Manager Sara Kangas.

Agri-Pulse: Senate leader prods farm bill negotiators for quick deal
By Philip Brasher
09/05/18

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pressed farm bill negotiators to finalize an agreement as quickly as possible. McConnell said at Wednesday's meeting that he wanted to send “a bipartisan, bicameral bill to the president’s desk that he’ll sign before the end of September.”

The Nature of Cities: Taking the Long View: Looking at Landscape Restoration Through Varied Lenses
By Bruce Roll
09/05/18

(Opinion) So many restoration projects fail when we try to bring Mother Nature back in a year and a half. In the business of landscape scale restoration, short-term, small-scale efforts are simply not good investments. And long-term requires partnership.

U.S. News and World Report: High Above DC, Unseen Urban Beekeepers Boost Agriculture
By Dan Friedell
09/03/18

Those are just four of the more than 400 hives thriving in D.C. Maryland and Virginia host hundreds more urban and suburban bee colonies just across the District line. The existence of these hidden beehives isn't just a way for a business to trumpet its sustainable practices on a restaurant menu. The urban hives are increasingly important because bees have been struggling.

ABC News: AP Explains: Driven by climate change, fire reshapes US West
By Matthew Brown
09/03/18

Wildfires in the U.S. have charred more than 10,000 square miles so far this year, an area larger than the state of Maryland, with large fires still burning in every Western state including many that are not fully contained.

The Hill: Significant opportunities to support tribal self-reliance in farm bill
By Ross Racine and Keith B. Anderson
09/02/18

(Opinion) From food production and food access to issues of nutrition, rural development, and conservation, Indian Country’s wellbeing is deeply interconnected with nearly every component of the farm bill, one of the single largest pieces of domestic legislation in the United States.

Indy Star: Urban gardeners use big ag techniques to conserve soil
By Emily Hopkins
09/04/18

Planting cover crops is a practice often associated with large-scale farming, whereby producers plant cover crops between their corn and soybean rotations to keep nutrients and soil from running off. But the same benefits seen on farmland can be achieved in an urban setting, said Kevin Allison, urban soil health specialist at the Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District.

High Plains Journal: Alternative forages: Specialist looks at different options
By Kylene Scott
09/03/18

The study wants to help producers make decisions about which cover crops to plant when incorporating grazing.

Wallaces Farmer: Tying soil conservation to nutrient management
09/05/18

Farming in Wright County in north-central Iowa, Tim Smith wants to be part of the solution. In 2011, he began adding practices that kept soil in place and held nutrients to improve soil health and water quality. “Before I adopted these practices I thought I was doing the right things. But through soil and water testing, I learned I can do things differently and more efficiently,” Smith says.

The Mercury News: California’s $1 billion plan to reduce wildfire risk
By Paul Rogers
08/31/18

As California suffers through one of its worst fire seasons in recent history, state lawmakers are closing in on a final vote on a sweeping package to provide $1 billion over the next five years to reduce the risk of wildfires across the state.

The New York Times: The Last Butterfly
By Margaret Renkl
09/03/18

(Opinion) Monarchs are important pollinators that don’t eat crops or damage gardens. Their caterpillars eat only milkweed, which was once ubiquitous along American roadsides and in the margins between fields on small farms. What the monarch needs to survive is more milkweed.

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