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December 23, 2008
NACD Joins Wildlife and Environmental Groups in "Green
Jobs" Proposal
Last week thirty one organizations, including NACD, sent an
economic stimulus proposal to Capitol Hill that would
create 160,000 jobs through investments in conservation
programs, habitat restoration projects and forest health.
This proposal features several programs included in NACD's
individual recommendation, such as funding for Watershed
Rehabilitation, EPA's 319 grant programs, the Healthy Lands
Initiative, hazardous fuels reduction and rangeland
restoration. Additional recommendations include regional
restoration projects for Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Puget
Sound, Mississippi and Missouri River and several others.
Click here to read the full proposal on the NACD website.
Congress will be developing an economic stimulus package over
the next several weeks. Expectations are that a final
proposal will be presented to President-Elect Obama after
he is sworn into office in January.
Obama Transition Team Names New USDA Secretary
The administration of President-Elect Obama continues to
organize, naming former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as
Secretary of Agriculture last week.
Vilsack served two terms as Governor of Iowa from 1998
until 2002, as well as a state legislator from 1992 until
1998. As governor, Vilsack was a proponent of renewable
energy and worked to develop the stateís ethanol and wind
energy industries. During that time, he was also active in
the National Governors Association (NGA), serving as chair
of the NGA's committee on Natural Resources. Like all
cabinet nominees, Vilsack will require Senate confirmation
before assuming his post at the Department of Agriculture.
Vilsack's nomination rounds out the President-Elect's
natural resource appointees. NACD looks forward to working
with all of the new administration's leaders on natural
resource policy.
USDA Announces New Office of Ecosystem Services and
Markets
Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary
Ed Schafer announced his intention to create a new office
of Ecosystem Services and Markets. The 2008 Farm Bill
directed USDA to establish technical guidelines that
outline science-based methods to measure the environmental
services benefits from conservation and land management
activities. The law also directs USDA to establish
guidelines to verify landowners have implemented the
conservation and land management activities. U.S. Forest
Service Associate Chief Sally Collins has been nominated to
become the director of the Office of Ecosystem Services and
Markets. Environmental services include carbon
sequestration, water quality, habitat and others.
A federal advisory committee will be created to assist in
these efforts. An announcement will be released shortly
seeking nominations for farmers, ranchers, forest
landowners and tribal representatives, as well as
representatives from state natural resource and
environmental agencies, agriculture departments, and
conservation and environmental organizations.
For more information, click here.
DOI Officially Designates Public Lands
The Department of the Interior (DOI) recently announced the
official designation of the 258 million acres of lands
managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as the
National System of Public Lands.
Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(FLPMA), BLM is directed to manage the public lands for
multiple uses including recreation, conservation, wildlife
habitat and economic activities such as timber and forest
products, livestock grazing, and energy and mineral
production. This is especially significant for conservation
districts in western states that work with a variety of
land owners and managers, including the BLM, on natural
resource conservation efforts.
The official designation does not provide any change in
land status, but emphasizes the interconnectedness of
lands and resources. It will also make it easier for the
general public to identify BLM-managed lands and understand
the agency's multiple-use, landscape approach to land
management.
Click here for more information from BLM.
Urban and Community Forestry Grants Available
State associations and districts involved in urban and
community forestry (U&CF) may be eligible for funding
through the Forest Service's National U&CF Challenge Cost
Share Grant Program. The newly revised program awards
grants for projects that can show national or multi-state
|significance in the categories of Innovation and Best
Practices. The Council anticipates awarding one or more
grants out of the $500,000 available for Innovation.
Priority areas include energy conservation, climate change
and public health. The Best Practices Grants will award a
maximum of $50,000 per application from $500,000 available
for projects that improve existing U&CF best practices or
develop needed best practices. Detailed information is
available at www.grants.gov under the CFDA reference
#10.675.
2008 Two Chiefs' Partnership Awards Announced
At the December 8 meeting of the Joint Forestry Team,
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Associate
Chief Dana York and Forest Service (USFS) Associate Chief
Sally Collins announced the recipients of the 2008 Two
Chiefs' Partnership Awards. The awards recognize
collaborative conservation and forest stewardship projects
where USFS, NRCS, state forestry agencies and conservation
districts work together.
Three conservation district winners were among this year's
award recipients. Congratulations to Nikki Lohse, Lake
DeSmet Conservation District Manager in Wyoming, for
managing a wide-reaching sage grouse conservation effort
across private, state and federal lands. Hats off to the
Newberry Soil and Water Conservation District in South
Carolina for their work with a number of partners
implementing the Indian Creek Wildlife Habitat Restoration
Initiative. And finally, we commend the Marquette County
Conservation District in Michigan for their part in the
Biomass Utilization and Restoration Network in the Upper
Peninsula—a partnership working to facilitate a
commercially viable woody biomass industry.
Funding Available for Conservation Education Projects
Are you working with schools that need additional funding
for conservation education projects? Below are two
opportunities you can share with teachers in your county.
The Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers program,
administered by the National Science Teachers Association,
will again award grants to science teachers in the
categories of Physical Science Application, Environmental
Science Education, and Integrating Literacy and Science.
This year, 50 grants of up to $10,000 each and more than 20
mini-grants of up to $2,500 each will be awarded. The
deadline to complete the online application is January 21,
2009. Additional information is available at
http://tapestry.nsta.org/.
The Future Fisherman Foundation has funds that will assist
public, private and charter K-12 schools to implement and
design standards-based fishing curriculum. Teachers may
apply for grants of up to $2,500. The application deadline
is January 19, 2009. Visit http://www.futurefisherman.org/programs/physh_ed/grants.html for additional information, guidelines and forms.
New "Plant for Pollinators" Ecoregional Guides Available
Online
Join farmers Chuck Heard from Delaware, Mike Omeg from
Oregon and John Keeley from Oregon—past winners of the
Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Conservation Award cosponsored by
NACD and the Pollinator Partnership—in planting for
pollinators.
The Pollinator Partnership has developed ecoregional guides
as a new resource for farmers, ranchers and gardeners who
want to establish habitat for native pollinators and
honeybees. The guides provide information on native plants
that are specific to different regions and should be helpful
to conservation districts that are trying to assist
producers in establishing pollinator habitat.
The guides are available for free at http://www.pollinator.org/guides.htm.
Simply use your zip code to access your ecosystem map and
guide. Seventeen guides are available, with the rest
scheduled for completion by 2009 National Pollinator Week.
NACD signed a memorandum of understanding with the
Pollinator Partnership during 2008 National Pollinator Week.
Getting the ecoregional guides into the hands of people who
will be able to use them in implementing their conservation
practices is one of our shared efforts.
CPECS Workshop Offered at NACD Annual Meeting
A Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control
(CPESC) Workshop will be held in conjunction with NACDís
63rd Annual Meeting, scheduled for February 1-4, 2009 in
New Orleans, La. The CPESC Workshop, co-hosted by NCDEA,
NACD and NASCA, will begin Saturday, January 31, 2009 at
Noon and will wrap at Noon on Sunday, February 1, 2009.
This two-session workshop series will provide technical
staff an opportunity to achieve CPESC, Inc. certification.
A registration fee of $125 is required and will include a
reference book. Click here to download a registration form for the workshop. For
further information, please contact Rich Duesterhaus at
rich-duesterhaus@nacdnet.org.
Note from the Editor
The next issue of eNotes will arrive in
your inbox on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. Our office will
have adjusted holiday hours as follows: Christmas Eve, Open
8:30 am - Noon; Christmas Day, Closed; December 26, Closed;
New Year's Eve, Open 8:30 a.m. - Noon; New Year's Day,
Closed; January 2, Open 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. NACD wishes
each and all a warm and safe holiday season.
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