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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.


ND program aims to mitigate losses via Agweek

More than 1 million acres of grassland in North Dakota have been converted to other land uses since 2007, and the state could lose thousands more as Conservation Reserve Program contracts expire. The state Game and Fish Department's 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan attributed the declining populations of some birds — including the state bird, the western meadowlark — to grassland losses, which could be exacerbated by fewer CRP acres nationwide.

Farmers dealing with losses from hurricane via The Wilson Times

During Hurricane Matthew’s heavy rainfall and strong winds Saturday, Tyner’s farm shop experienced extensive flooding, damaging a lot of his equipment. He said much of his soybean and peanut crop is still under water. “We don’t know how long it will be before we can get into the fields,” Tyner said. “The ground is still heavily saturated so crops like sweet potatoes and peanuts could rot in the ground before we get to them.”

Tentative clean water conservation deal for Minnesota aids birds via Star Tribune

Replanted with native grasses, the change in land use will protect against fertilizer-related nitrate contamination while also providing new pheasant habitat. Pheasants also will benefit from CREP restoration of prairie pothole wetlands and flood plains. Those marshy areas, restored to their natural state, will provide nesting habitat and winter cover for ringnecks.

US Forest Service Helps Educate Students at World’s Largest Conservation Event via USDA

Approximately 180 middle and high school students joined Smokey Bear, U.S. Forest Service staff and a host of other conservation-focused professionals from around the world. The U.S. Forest Service contributed multiple interactive displays and presentations covering the subjects of fire prevention, clean water and forest health.

Columbian white-tailed deer rebound via The Columbian

Hailed as a conservation success story by wildlife officials, the Columbian white-tailed deer has been downlisted to threatened after being federally classified as endangered for nearly 40 years. To be clear, the Columbian white-tails are not off the endangered species list, but reclassifying the species as threatened gives landowners, states and tribes more flexibility in how to manage and move the deer populations.

Environmentalists fear coal ash spills from flooding via WRAL

Thousands of gallons of water flowed out of a cooling pond at a retired Duke Energy power plant on Wednesday after part of the retaining wall on the 545-acre pond gave way. Dead livestock and animal waste are another concern in the floodwaters. An estimated 100,000 chickens drowned in Wayne County alone, and Starr said hog waste lagoons are overflowing.

Grant Funding Targets Farm Emissions via Lancaster Farming

New York state is making another $2.5 million available to help farmers prevent climate change. Individual soil and water conservation districts may apply for the competitive grants on behalf of farmers in their respective areas. Applications must be for agricultural waste storage cover and flare systems, water management systems, or soil health systems.

Waters wash away divides as Montanans unite to protect rivers via Montana Standard

A group called Montanans for Healthy Rivers has drafted requests for 54 more Wild and Scenic River designations totaling 694 river miles. “This is a public land management priority,” Kascie Herron said. “People are fearful of more government, and we try to explain it’s not — it’s the same government. This just elevates rivers to the same level with timber and grazing and minerals.”

Human-caused warming doubled how much of the West has burned since 1984 via Los Angeles Times

Using large-scale climate models, annual wildfire data and eight established methods for measuring the aridity of the forests, the researchers concluded that from 1979 to 2015, climate change increased the aridity of wildfire fuel by 55%.

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