April 22, 2008 eNotes - National Association of Conservation Districts

April 22, 2008
index to previous eNotes

1. Earth Day: A Cause for Celebration
People across the world took time out of their day today to celebrate Earth Day—a day set aside to think about the Earth, environment and, for many, conservation. NACD CEO Krysta Harden was one of those people. Harden traveled to the Glenn Elseroad farm in Reisterstown, Maryland, where she joined a large crowd to celebrate a new Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) easement partnership between the Elseroad Family and Baltimore County, Maryland.

Others participating in the event included the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, USDA NRCS Chief Arlen Lancaster, USDA Undersecretary Gary Mast, Maryland NRCS State Conservationist Jon Hall, Baltimore County Executive James Smith, Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson, Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts President Lee McDaniel and Executive Director Lynne Hoot, local conservation district officials, students from the Gerstel Academy and many other local and state partners.

The Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, established as part of the 1996 Farm Bill, has protected nearly 540,000 acres on 2,764 farms over the last 10 years. The FRPP agreement announced today consists of 341 acres on five family farms and is the result of a partnership between USDA and the Baltimore Country Ag Land Preservation Program.

Earth Day is just the start of what is a busy two weeks of education and outreach activities for conservation district employees and officials. Stewardship Week kicks off on Sunday, April 27 and lasts through Sunday, May 4, 2008. More information about Stewardship Week is available at http://www.nacdnet.org/stewardship/2008/. Be sure to take lots of photos of your Stewardship Week events and send your success stories to Susan Schultz by filling out a NACD Stewardship and Education Outreach 2008 form. Photographs can be sent to stewardship@nacdnet.org.

2. 2008 Farm Bill—More of the Same
While almost the same, this week's report on the Farm Bill is slightly different. On Thursday, Congress passed a one-week extension of the 2002 Farm Bill to allow negations to continue until April 25, 2008. The rest of the story remains the same—controversy surrounding tax incentives and permanent disaster program. NACD will continue to keep you posted.

3. President Announces Climate Change Goal
Last week the President announced a new national goal to stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. The announcement was not accompanied with specific policy recommendations but seeks to build upon recently enacted Energy Bill and provide new coordinated incentives for technology. The announcement came as the President was headed to a meeting in Europe of the world's major economies.

On a related note, last week NACD Director of Legislative Affairs Keira Franz participated in a Carbon Work Group meeting. The meeting was hosted by 25 X '25, an organization that seeks for farms, forests and ranches to provide twenty-five percent of our nation's energy by the year 2025. The group discussed the role of agriculture and forestry in ongoing climate change debates.

4. Conservation Districts among Collaborative Conservation Award Winners
The Department of the Interior (DOI) hosted the 2008 Collaborative Conservation Awards ceremony at its Washington headquarters Monday. Twenty-four partnerships involving more than 700 organizations and individuals from across the U.S. were recognized by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Among these award winners was the Restore New Mexico Partnership, an initiative in which the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts (NMACD) and Carlsbad Soil and Water Conservation District and 11 other partners are responsible for completing nearly 500,000 acres of brush control on public and private lands, reestablishing native vegetation on 36 miles of river, reclaiming outdated infrastructure and reconnecting more than 80,000 acres of habitat in southeastern New Mexico.

The following winning partnerships also involved conservation district participants:

Matanuska-Susitna Salmon Habitat Conservation Partnership - Upper Susitna and Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation Districts (Alaska)
South Arkansas Apart Aquifer Recovery - Union County Conservation District (Arkansas)
Upper San Pedro Partnership - Arizona Association of Conservation Districts and the Hereford Natural Resource Conservation District (Arizona)

NACD CEO Krysta Harden and other NACD staff attended the awards ceremony where NMACD Executive Director Debbie Hughes accepted the award on behalf of the Restore New Mexico Partnership. Congratulations to the winning partnerships and all districts involved. More information on the awards is available at http://www.doi.gov/news/08_News_Releases/080421.html.

5. House Approves Bill to End "Fire Borrowing"
As reported in last week's edition of eNotes, the House Natural Resources Committee has recently taken additional action to develop a separate funding mechanism that seeks to end "fire borrowing." Committee members took up the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enchantment Act (HR 5541) last week and incorporated aspects of the Emergency Wildland Fire Response Act of 2008 (HR 5648) in an effort to reach a compromise between the two bills. The amended bill will now move on for consideration by the entire House of Representatives.

This legislation addresses the issues that arise when the costs of wildfire suppression exceed the USDA Forest Service's fire suppression budget allocation and causes the agency to "borrow" funds from other agency accounts. As a result, programs that are important to conservation districts and private forest landowners, such as State and Private Forestry, become under-funded. NACD has submitted written testimony on both bills. The testimony can be found at http://www.nacdnet.org/policy/input/testimony/wildfire_04-10-08.phtml.

6. Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Pharmaceutical Waste in Drinking Water
Last week the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee convened a hearing about the emerging issue of pharmaceutical contamination in public drinking water supplies. Although there was a general consensus that further studies are needed on the issue, the hearing was divided regarding the risk from contamination and whether more stringent action is required. At issue were questions of drug level concentrations in drinking water, which are significantly lower than medical doses, the impact of even low doses during critical points such as pregnancy and childhood, and unknown long-term effects.

Leaders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) emphasized that testing for and regulating the wide range of pharmaceutical contaminants would be financially impossible given the lack of funding for water infrastructure.

NACD's Board of Directors passed a resolution in February encouraging conservation districts to develop and implement county-wide pharmaceutical disposal programs in their respective districts and communities.

7. Clean Water Restoration Act Reviewed by Congress
The Senate Environment and Public Works committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee recently conducted hearings to review the proposed Clean Water Restoration Act. In February, NACD's Board of Directors passed a resolution in opposition to this legislation over concerns regarding vagueness of the bill's language and the scope of jurisdiction it could potentially create if passed.

The hearing in the House was of particular interest to NACD's concerns. Over 22 individuals representing a wide variety of organizations and interests testified. Included were representatives from EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Department of Justice. The focus throughout the hearing was on ways to improve the language of the bill to clarify its intent. During the hearing, Chairman Oberstar requested that the agencies and organizations testifying submit proposals for revised language.

NACD will continue to work on this issue and gather information regarding the impacts of the proposed legislation on district projects and for local landowners.

To view more information on the respective hearings, visit the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's website or the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's website.

8. 509 Capitol Court Campaign a Matter of Priority for Utah
Utah's conservation districts and state association have a strong lead among the states in fundraising efforts for NACD's 509 Capitol Court Campaign. Conservation leaders there have contributed $11,000 toward the renovation of NACD's national headquarters. When asked what motivates the folks in Utah to support the campaign so strongly, Utah Association of Conservation Districts President Bill Rasmussen said the following:

"Utah districts have always been strong supporters of NACD. I came to visit the NACD office recently with an image in my mind of a fancy national office, but it wasn't. In fact, I was shocked. I made it a priority to encourage Utah districts to support the 509 Capitol Court Campaign and personally sent multiple letters to all of our districts promoting the Campaign. We understand the value of NACD to local districts and we understand the importance of having a good image. Every state and district has a unique financial situation, but in my mind, it's a matter of prioritizing. For Utah, having a national office we can be proud of is important."

NACD thanks Utah for their strong support. Information on how to donate is available at http://www.nacdnet.org/events/509campaign/. You can choose to designate your contribution toward the Renovation Ride—a 5-day, 258 mile bicycle ride by NACD staff to garner support and funds for the Capitol Court Campaign. Find out more at http://www.nacdnet.org/events/509campaign/ride/.

9. EPA Offers Webcast for National Water Program Strategy
The EPA Office of Water recently released for public comment a draft of the National Water Program Strategy: Response to Climate Change. For more information on the report, see the April 1, 2008 edition of eNotes. To discuss the draft strategy and answer questions, the Office of Water will host a webcast on Thursday, May 8, at 2:30 PM EDT.
The webcast will include a review of the impacts of a changing climate on water resources and water programs, as well as some of the actions EPA proposes in the strategy to respond to these impacts and to work with local stakeholders. This webcast is a good opportunity to review actions EPA is proposing for those interested in submitting comments. The comment period on the draft strategy closes May 27, 2008.
More information on registering for the webcast will be available beginning April 23 at http://www.epa.gov/water/climatechange/index.html.

10. NACD Calendar of Events
May 14-17, 2008 Executive Directors' Conference, Saratoga, WY
June 8-10, NACD Northern Plains Region Leaders Meeting, Nebraska City, NE
July 18-23, NACD Summer Board Meeting and Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.
August 3-5, Northeast Region Meeting, Portsmouth, NH
August 10-12, Southeast Region Meeting, Biloxi, MS
August 21-23, South Central Region Meeting, Hot Springs, AR

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