Conservation Clip List is a weekly collection of articles distributed by NACD that provides our members and partners with the latest news in what's driving conservation. If you have a relevant submission, please contact your NACD Communications Team.

Is the West's Wild Horse Crisis So Bad Only Euthanasia Can Fix It? via National Geographic

At the board’s biannual meeting, held last week in Elko, Nevada, Masters surprised his supporters by joining an eight to one vote in favor of adding the use of euthanasia as a tool for the BLM in managing its overcrowded holding facilities. The agency is overburdened, he says, with the $50 million annual cost of caring for 45,000 surplus horses and burros kept in BLM holding facilities across the country. Euthanasia would be a final measure, after horses are given a final chance for adoption, or placed in new sanctuaries or public lands that might become available

Senate Ag panel approves wildfire management bill via Agri-Pulse

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday approved a bill aimed at helping the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) deal with its increasing expensive fire-fighting efforts and to improve forest management activities. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the committee's ranking member, said she was pleased that the bill begins to address the problem of fire-borrowing, by which the USFS is routinely forced to transfer funds from key projects like forest restoration and timber sales to help pay for firefighting.

Behind the Monsanto Deal, Doubts About the GMO Revolution via The Wall Street Journal

Since their introduction to U.S. farms 20 years ago, genetically engineered seeds have become like mobile phones—multifunctional and ubiquitous. Today, farmers are finding it harder to justify the high and often rising prices for modified seed, given the measly returns of the current farm economy.

Farm group to offer aid on bad wells via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A farm group in northeastern Wisconsin announced plans on Wednesday to supply water to residents with tainted wells in Kewaunee County, where the practice of manure spreading — especially by large-scale farms with thousands of cattle — has been a contentious political topic. In an unprecedented step, Peninsula Pride Farms will provide water and a subsidy for a system to treat it in selected cases — regardless of whether the source of contamination is from animal waste or another form of pollution.

Ag secretary says private investment needed to help sage grouse via Associated Press

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced grants on Thursday for a pair of programs that will attempt to use private financing to conserve land across the Western U.S. as part of a sweeping effort to restore the greater sage grouse's habitat. Vilsack told The Associated Press that such private sector investment is needed to supplement $400 million already spent under the agency's sage grouse restoration initiative.

Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge farmers' bottom lines via The Topeka Capital-Journal

Hardy weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides are challenging Kansas soybean and corn farmers to adapt their chemical applications, and some have added tillage back into their control methods.

US infrastructure and rural prosperity: Are we falling behind? via Agri-Pulse

When it comes to the sectors of the nation's infrastructure in need of repairs, an overwhelming majority of registered voters say that roads (92 percent), bridges (89 percent), water pipelines (88 percent), energy grids (80 percent), railways (80 percent) and dams (76 percent) are all in some to extreme need of repairs.

Commentary: Finding common ground that sustains our future via HeraldNet

The recent Farm-to-Table dinner hosted by the Sustainable Land Strategy, Agriculture Caucus, Snohomish Conservation District and the Snohomish County Farm Bureau brought together a remarkably diverse 75-person group that included tribal leaders, flood control and drainage districts, big and small farmers, conservation groups and high-level government officials. The SLS and its partners are also developing innovative models around conservation easements and the purchasing of development rights, incentives for stewardship practices and climate resiliency planning.

Broad coalition to push for sales tax hike targeted at water quality via The Des Moines Register

Organizers said they are launching a larger and stronger Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition that will propose raising the state sales tax by three-eighths of 1 cent in the 2017 session of the Iowa Legislature, which convenes in January. The additional $180 million in state revenue would support initiatives that would include cleaning up the state's dirty rivers and streams, upgrading soil conservation, and enhancing wildlife and outdoor recreation programs.

Red wolves will still be protected — but more by zoos than in the wild via The Washington Post

Cindy Dohner, southeast regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said doubling the number of captive wolves to 400 in zoos across the country is the only way to save red wolves. To do that, the service will attempt to increase the number of mating pairs from 29 to at least 52.