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.

NACD Blog: World Soil Day – Celebrating our most vital resource and those who protect it

As we celebrate World Soil Day on December 5, it is only appropriate to also celebrate those who help maintain and improve soil health across our country’s landscape.

NACD Blog: NACD Government Affairs Update

As we enter the final month of 2017, there are several issues on NACD’s radar that we want you to be aware of.

New Farm Bill debate picks up steam via Farm Forum

When the House Agriculture Committee starts marking up the bill in early 2018, she hopes to expand rural broadband access, provide more grazing flexibility on Conservation Reserve Program lands, and keep crop insurance strong because it’s a “win-win for farmers and taxpayers.”

Southern California Fires Live Updates: More Areas Under Siege as Wind Gains Strength via The New York Times

The four largest fires had scorched a combined 116,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties by Thursday morning, and none of those fires was close to being contained.

Trump slashes Utah land protections via The Hill

President Trump on Monday shrank two massive, controversial national monuments in Utah, potentially opening thousands of acres to drilling, mining, and grazing.

GOP crafts spending bill provisions aimed at speeding repeal of water protection rule via The Washington Post

House and Senate Republicans have inserted language into spending bills aimed at blocking legal challenges to the Trump administration’s effort to repeal a 2015 water protection rule that gave two federal agencies broad leeway in regulating activities that could affect streams and tributaries.

Commission seeks fracking ban in watershed supplying NYC via Chicago Tribune

A commission that oversees water quality for the watershed that supplies Philadelphia and half of New York City with drinking water took another step Thursday toward permanently banning natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing, despite industry opposition.

U.S. rejects federal protection for white-tailed prairie dogs via Reuters

The white-tailed prairie dog will not be declared an endangered or threatened species after the U.S. government deemed there was no danger despite declines in its population from human development and disease. The decision was a victory for energy companies and ranchers who could have seen increased restrictions on lands that are open to oil and gas development and livestock grazing.

University researchers develop tree disease detection device via Minnesota Daily

Researchers are working on a handheld device that uses nanotechnology to test for oak wilt, a disease threatening Minnesota forests.

It’s up to each of us to be better stewards of Iowa's precious topsoil via Des Moines Register

(Opinion) The U.S. is losing 2 billion tons of precious topsoil every year — but it takes roughly 2,000 years to generate a mere four inches of topsoil. This precious natural resource is becoming a national priority, an Iowa priority, a priority on the Kimberley farm, and on many of our neighbors’ farms.

Arctic sea ice melt to exacerbate California droughts: study via Reuters

Melting Arctic sea ice could render sun-soaked California vulnerable to a recurrence of the severe drought suffered in recent years as it is likely to cause high pressure systems that push away rain-bearing storms.

Soil Power! The Dirty Way to a Green Planet via The New York Times

(Opinion) The last great hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change may lie in a substance so commonplace that we typically ignore it or else walk all over it: the soil beneath our feet.

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