Ask NASCA

Ask NASCA

Create New Topic
  • This forum has 186 topics, 684 replies, and was last updated 1 month ago by Jay Nelson.
Viewing 20 topics – 121 through 140 (of 186 total)
1 2 3 … 6 7 8 9 10
    • Topic
    • Voices
    • Posts
    • Last Post
    • Disaster response: Woody debris removal from streams To help prepare for hurricane season that begins Sunday, North Carolina is seeking input on states’ experiences getting federal assistance to remove storm-related debris from streams and drainage ways in the last decade. Historically, we could rely on NRCS-EWP to address this concern, but now we understand the EWP program manual limits eligibility to sites where there is a structure permanently affixed to the ground that will be threatened because of the stream blockage. This limitation has severely curtailed the opportunity to tap EWP to address blockages that impact only cropland/forestland. Our question is whether other states have been given a more favorable response to requests for federal assistance in these instances. Have states had success using the FSA-Emergency Conservation Program for this concern? How about FEMA or Army Corps of Engineers?

      Started by: David Williams

    • 1
    • 5
    • 9 years, 11 months ago

      Brad Spicer

    • Recognition for Urban Erosion Control The Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission is interested in beginning a recognition program for landowners/companies/developers that do an exceptional job of erosion control on land disturbance sites. Does your state have such a program? If so, what are the program particulars and how is the program administered? Is there a web link available for further information? Thanks, BRENT DYKES, Executive Director, GASWCC

      Started by: Brent Dykes

    • 1
    • 4
    • 9 years, 11 months ago

      David Williams

    • Field Office Technical Guide Does your State Conservation Agency and/or conservation districts fund only those practices that are in the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) for your state?

      Started by: Stu Trefry

    • 1
    • 12
    • 10 years ago

      Robert Toole

    • Envirothon Support Does your state conservation agency help support your State Envirothon program? If so, how? MB

      Started by: Mike Brown

    • 1
    • 26
    • 10 years ago

      Lisa Knauf Owen

    • Soil Health Certification Have any State Conservation Agencies developed soil health training modules, soil health certifications, or soil health standards for conservation district programs or personnel?

      Started by: Mike Brown

    • 1
    • 8
    • 10 years ago

      Cindy Lair

    • Conservation district employee training Montana’s Conservation Districts are taking a more systematic approach towards training their employees. There is no need to recreate the wheel. Are there states that already have structured employee training programs? We are looking for both delivery systems and materials or curriculum for training. A short description of where we are at is provided below. If you have a training program or know of someone who does that meets our needs, please let us know. Thank You Background Employee training currently takes a shotgun approach. The Montana Association of Conservation Districts Employee Organization (MACDEO) and the Conservation Districts Bureau of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) are looking to create a more systematic approach. In most Montana Districts there is only one employee which is called an administrator (some states call them managers), who is often part-time. The first two components of our current training system include the “New Administrator Welcome Wagon” and a biennial statewide training. The Welcome Wagon occurs within the first 30 days of employment to get them off and running. The biennial training covers a wider range of general topics for district employees. That still leaves a lot of training that needs to be done and we are looking for the best way to fill that void. David Martin DNRC – Conservation Districts Bureau Ph: 406-444-4253 damartin@mt.gov

      Started by: David Martin

    • 1
    • 2
    • 10 years, 2 months ago

      Natalie Macsalka

    • Farm Bill Tech program I’m looking for help in how other states handle the Farm Bill Tech program given internal (individual state) fiscal restrictions. For example, our program has run on a calendar year for the past 10 years. We were operating with a waiver from our State Treasury meaning we were able to receive funds from the NRCS (whenever a portion of our annual request became available), allocate and spend those funds without encumbering them. We have incredibly detailed spreadsheets tracking every penny as control measures. Due to recent fiscal changes internally, we are now faced with having to encumber funds before we can issue a purchase order (PO) to the conservation district (essentially, a contract). The problem is we do not receive all of our annual funding in one agreement to be able to cover the entire calendar year. There will be at least two amendments to complete our annual request. Therefore, we cannot issue a PO to the district that covers the whole year as we have previously. Does anyone else receive their Farm Bill Tech dollars in little chunks? How do you manage it if you have to encumber the funds? Do you experience any gaps between when one amendment is about to expire and the next amendment has not come through? Could you offer any solutions based on how your state handles similar situations? HELP!!!! Thank you.

      Started by: Tammra Straub

    • 1
    • 1
    • 10 years, 5 months ago

      Tammra Straub

    • State Conservation Foundations Looking for names and contact information for state conservation foundations formed or somehow associated with your state association of conservation districts.

      Started by: Ray Ledgerwood

    • 1
    • 5
    • 10 years, 7 months ago

      Mike Thralls

    • Sources of dedicated funding for soil & water conservation Which states have some type of dedicated funding, at the state level, for their soil and water conservation district programs? Of those that do, what are the sources of these dedicated funds (taxes, fees, etc.)? Also, how much of this state funding is generated, on average, each year?

      Started by: Brad Spicer

    • 1
    • 8
    • 10 years, 7 months ago

      Marc Cribb

    • Webinar Topics As most of you are aware, NASCA sponsors periodic webinars to share information and innovation among our member states. We recently conducted a webinar which focused on regulatory certainty programs. What other webinar topics would be of interest to our members in 2013?

      Started by: Mike Brown

    • 1
    • 2
    • 11 years ago

      Steve Woods

    • Field Office of the Future Have any programmatic changes in conservation delivery occurred in your state as a result of the Field Office of the Future exercise? If so, what are they?

      Started by: Mike Brown

    • 1
    • 9
    • 11 years, 1 month ago

      Ray Ledgerwood

    • Long term goals and progress tracking I am interested in learning what kinds of bigger picture, longer term natural resource/environmental-based goals our agencies set, and how we track progress. I know that we have different statutory authorities, and program histories, so I know there is considerable variety. Our division is good at setting program delivery and expansion goals, but it seems we ought to also have better resource condition goals. I also realize it is easier to set such goals than to track progress toward them. Anyway, if you have anything easy to share with me (and others on our list serve if you care to), I would appreciate your response.

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • Implementing a fee schedule to pay USDA-NRCS IT support Has your state NRCS talked with your state agency or conservation districts regarding implementing a fee schedule to pay for USDA-NRCS IT (Information/Technology) support? If so, how has your state agency responded? Also… Has your state NRCS required conservation districts to pay rent for USDA-owned office space? If so, how has your state agency responded?

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • Long-range programs form I am looking for information about long-range programs and what different states have as a form for this procedure. We are struggling with a 5-year plan and I was wondering what other states were doing.

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • Synopsis of SWCD supervisor election information The Minnesota legislature is asking us for a synopsis of SWCD Supervisor election information. In a couple weeks we will be asking districts for summary data that we will summarize again before giving it to the legislators. Final report format will likely have: BASICS – # of Districts ( 91 covering all 87 counties ) – # of supervisors ( 455 ) – term length ( 4 years, all supervisors elected ) DEMOGRAPHICS – % male and female – # of consecutive terms served for each supervisor – tally of which economic sector (from a list of 12) the supervisor hails from – approximate age distribution by 5-year increments ELECTIONS – % of supervisor races in last election that were contested ( 13% in 2006 ) – % seats that had no candidate file Have any of you assembled some of the above information? I am especially interested in the elections area as the 13% figure seems to be the burr under the saddle.

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • District operations manual New Jersey Conservation Districts along with our State Conservation Agency is working on developing a District Operations Manual to assist districts in assessing their performance. I was wondering if any other states has developed a District Operations Manual or Assessment Manual that they would be willing to share with New Jersey?

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • Pond reconstruction & NRCS certification Does your state do pond reconstruction activities? Does NRCS certify the work completed on the reconstruction ponds? Would you share the policies that you have developed regarding pond reconstructions? What is the cost share rate or maximum dollar amount that a landowner can receive for pond reconstructions in your state? Administratively, what are some of the pros and cons to doing pond reconstruction in your state? Please forward any comments to: Ken Struemph at (ken.struemph@dnr.mo.gov) or contact him at 573-751-8242.

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • Charging fees for admin or technical services Do any of your districts charge a fee for administrative or technical services? If there are districts out there that charge fees, do those districts also receive tax dollars to fund the district? How do districts reconcile the argument that a landowner shouldn’t have to pay a fee when he/she has already paid their tax bill?

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

    • Providing insurance to staff Steve Coleman of Kentucky brought a question to my attention that has been a topic of interest among conservation districts in his state. Will the implementation of “Obamacare” force conservation districts to provide insurance benefits to staff that they currently do not provide? If so, how much of a hardship will this create for conservation districts in your state?

      Started by: Aaron

    • 1
    • 1
    • 11 years, 2 months ago

      Aaron

  •  

Viewing 20 topics – 121 through 140 (of 186 total)
1 2 3 … 6 7 8 9 10
Create New Topic in “Ask NASCA”
NOTE:

All new topics are held for moderation before they are displayed.
Upon approval, the topic will appear and we’ll ‘Ask NASCA’ membership for replies.

Your information:





 

Copyright © 2024 National Association of State Conservation Agencies | All Rights Reserved
PO Box 613 • Stevens Point, WI 54481
715-340-0681

CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBE

Youtube Twitter