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 the NACD Communications Team.

Southeast AgNet: Farmer Feedback Needed for Conservation Planning
01/28/21

The National Conservation Planning Partnership (NCPP) is urging landowners to take part in a survey to obtain feedback on ways to strengthen the value of a conservation plan and to improve the delivery of conservation planning assistance to landowners.

Faribault.com: Students measure effects of cover crops out in the field
01/23/21

Students from Randolph High School’s Plant and Soil Science class headed into the field this past fall to measure the effects of cover crops on soil health and crop yield. Randolph High School ag teacher Ed Terry partnered with the Rice Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and local farmers Tim Little of Millersburg and Mike Ludwig (Rice SWCD District Supervisor) of Northfield to bring the cover crop lesson to the classroom.

Buckrail: Teton Conservation District announces Drinking Water Quality Mapping Project
01/27/21

Teton Conservation District (TCD) is announcing the release of the Teton County, Wyoming Drinking Water Quality Mapping Project. 

Forks Forum: Quileute Tribe, Clallam Conservation District receive award
01/28/21

Clallam Conservation District and the Quileute Tribe were recently honored by the Washington Association of Conservation Districts (WACD) with the 2020 Conservation District Tribal Partnership Award.

Idaho Press: Conservation education efforts target water quality
01/27/21

Gem County is noted as a fertile series of valleys that rely on water rushing through its streams and rivers for its citizens to utilize in work and play. Conserving the quality of that water – including groundwater – is a primary purpose of two soil conservation districts within the county.

Southeast AgNet: Grant Looks at Mitigating Climate Change Impacts on Florida Grasslands
01/22/21

A professor with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has been awarded a $500,000 grant to study how climate change is threatening subtropical grasslands and the ways they sustain agriculture, wildlife biodiversity, and ecosystems and their benefits to humans.

Wyoming Public Media: Invasive Species Could Be More Disruptive Than Previously Thought
By Ivy Engel
01/22/21

Their role in the structure may also mean that invasive species are much harder to remove from an area than previously thought. But if we know what traits are driving interactions, species with those traits can be targeted for management.

CAL MATTERS: Water partnerships between cities and farms would help prepare for a changing climate
By Alvar Escriva-Bou
01/20/21

For Valley farmers, the requirement to achieve groundwater sustainability in coming years has heightened interest in expanding water supplies to reduce the need to fallow irrigated farmland.

E&E News: Invasive mussel is cleaning up phosphorus
By Valerie Yurk
01/25/21

(Subscriber Only) A mussel species invading the Great Lakes is also cleaning them up, according to a new study.

The Hill: New U.S. strategy could create massive $10B fund to fight climate disasters
By Alexandra Kelley
01/26/21

One of the latest Biden administration plans introduces a new framework that will shape U.S. policy to tackle climate change by allocating about $10 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to proactively address natural disasters related to climate change.

Ark Valley Voice: UNEASY ON THE LAND: COLORADO FOREST HEALTH IN DANGER AS CLIMATE CHANGES
By Jan Wondra
01/27/21

The Colorado Forest Service estimates a backlog of $4.2 billion in forest-thinning, just to protect homes in the growing  urban-wildland interface areas.

Phys.org: Soil health is as environmentally important as air and water quality, say microbiologists
01/26/21

Tilling and excessive use of fertilizers have major effects on soil health. Microbiology can be used to help understand the impact of intensive farming and design feasible mitigation practices.

Ohio's Country Journal: Improved soil health linked to nitrogen fertilizer efficiency
By Jordan Wade, Steve Culman and Cassandra Brown
01/28/21

A study published earlier this spring found that a 10 percent improvement in certain soil health measurements increased relative yields by an average of 5 percent across N fertilizer rates. In other words, good soil health means getting more bang for every buck spent on fertilizer.

AgWeb: Focus No-Till on Vulnerable Acres
By Sonja Begemann
01/21/21

A complete shift to no-till could reduce soil and sediment loss by more than 70 percent, according to Sanghyun Lee, with the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois, in a recent news release.

Greenbiz: The success of carbon farming requires collaborative innovation
By R. Burce Hull, David Robertson and Michael Mortimer
01/22/21

Collaborative innovation offers a way forward. It is a strategy for promoting system-wide change in the face of confounding uncertainty where continuous learning, iterative testing, and refining the solutions are part of the process.

Agri-Pulse: Biden executive order seeks to involve ag in battling climate change
By Steve Davies
01/27/21

(Subscriber Only) Addressing climate change is the focus of one of the Biden administration’s latest executive orders, which pauses new oil and gas leasing on public lands or offshore waters, seeks to more than double the amount of land conserved in the United States, and looks to involve the agriculture sector in the federal government’s efforts.

Morning AgClips: Seeing the value of conservation and conservation professionals in a virtual world
01/27/21

Another reminder embedded in the Conservation Media Library is that conservation practices rarely make their way to the landscape without the time, effort and expertise of conservation professionals. Without conservation professionals to guide farmers, design effective practices, construct these structures, and inspire their initiation these practices will not be on the landscape to filter water, limit erosion, improve soil structure and offer habitat.

Phys.org: Carbon-chomping soil bacteria may pose hidden climate risk
01/27/21

New research from Princeton University shows that carbon molecules can potentially escape the soil much faster than previously thought. The findings suggest a key role for some types of soil bacteria, which can produce enzymes that break down large carbon-based molecules and allow carbon dioxide to escape into the air.

IndyStar: 'Last line of defense': New bill would strip protections for many of Indiana's wetlands
By Sarah Bowman and London Gibson
01/25/21

Indiana has already lost 85 percent of the wetlands it once had a century ago, many drained for farming and development. Now, environmentalists, engineers and residents are concerned that the few wetlands that remain are under threat. 

Civil Eats: Our Future Food Supply Depends on Endangered Wild Crops
By Gosia Wozniacka
01/25/21

The lead author of a new study on the important role wild plants play in food crop diversity and climate mitigation calls for greater conservation efforts.

Phys.org: Forests with diverse tree sizes and small clearings hinder wildland fire growth
01/27/21

The research can help fire managers better understand the physics and dynamics of fire to improve fire-behavior forecasts.

HuffPost: State And Local Leaders Push Biden To Protect 30 Percent Of U.S. Land, Waters By 2030
By Chris D'Angelo
01/26/21

Hundreds of state and local elected officials are calling on President Joe Biden to lead a speedy, aggressive national effort to combat the climate and extinction crises by protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and 30 percent of its waters by 2030.

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