Feb 13, 2024

Conservation district grants focus on community

The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced the 2024 recipients of the Friends of NACD District Grants Program during NACD’s Annual Meeting in San Diego.

The Friends of NACD District Grants Program supports locally led conservation and advances climate resilience, education and youth development, and food security. Now in its fifth round of funding, the program is funded through donations. This year, eight conservation districts will receive $2,500 to implement community-based projects.

“NACD is excited to support innovative projects spearheaded by conservation districts across the country,” Franklin Williams, District and Partner Relations Committee chairman, said in a news release. “These locally led projects will help educate and connect communities through conservation. Thank you to the generous Friends of NACD who make this program possible.”

The 2024 Friends of NACD District Grants Program recipients and their conservation projects are:

• Polk Soil and Water Conservation District, Oregon. With local partners, the district will build a community engagement program for their property, Cornerstone, to foster connections to the land through education and activities. Participants will take the knowledge and techniques learned to their own properties and communities.

• Luta Soil and Water Conservation District, Idaho. Cultivating Roots, a summer youth program supported by this grant, merges NACD’s “May the Forest Be with You, Always” educational theme with a hands-on cultural experience at Rota’s Hatdin Amot Chamorro (Chamorro Medicine Garden).

• Muskingum Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio. The district is partnering with a local bee farm, Natures Image Farm, to install and equip two bee colonies at the site of their largest 1.5-acre community garden, which also serves as a site for education and demonstration of conservation practices.

• Rio Grande Conservation District,  Colorado. The Rio Grande Conservation District will partner with the Forest Service, Rio Grande Watershed Conservation and Education Initiative, local schools and youth programs to purchase supplies for a community tree-planting event around Arbor Day and present on related soil health effects.

• Greene Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio. The Greene Soil and Water Conservation District will purchase a rainfall simulator for educational purposes to show how rainfall on soil with different tilling practices can affect the ground beneath their feet and teach the importance of soil health.

• Ferry Conservation Districts, Washington. In partnership with local Ferry County schools, the Ferry Conservation District will purchase outdoor education equipment and supplies to support the Ferry Conservation District Outdoor Education Center.

• Mason Conservation District, Washington. The “Winged Warriors Pollinator Program,” supported by this grant, enhances Shelton Veterans Village by establishing a native pollinator habitat garden. Native plants bolster biodiversity, tackling ecological concerns and nurturing a Veteran community.

• Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District, Maine. Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District will develop Pollinator Parties, a program bringing together teachers, informal educators, beekeepers and volunteers to teach second graders about pollination through standards-aligned, engaging outdoor learning experiences.