CCSWCD Awarded NACD Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant

Portland, Maine – Today, the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District (CCSWCD) based in Windham, Maine announced it was awarded an urban agriculture conservation grant through a partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to boost technical capacity nationwide.

“The CCSWCD Board enthusiastically welcomes NACD’s decision to fund our District’s proposal for the NACD UAC Initiative Fiscal Year 2020. The proposed project will further many District goals, including those to foster local agriculture and to provide public education regarding improved methods for soil and water conservation in Cumberland County. This is an excellent opportunity to increase the impacts of several ongoing community agriculture projects at CCSWCD.” CCSWCD Board Chair Carol Ann Doucette said.

CCSWCD was one of 21 conservation districts across 13 states to receive funding. NACD and NRCS established the Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Initiative in 2016 to help conservation districts and their partners provide much-needed technical assistance for agricultural conservation in developed or predominantly developing areas.

This project’s goal is to develop and begin to implement coordinated “Community Agriculture Plans” for selected communities in Cumberland County. The plans will be customized for each community and based on “modules” the Conservation District has developed through experience with other recently completed community agriculture projects. Project funds will be made available to begin plan implementation. All materials developed to support the project will be made publicly available. Project work will conclude by providing knowledge transfer and technical assistance to regional municipal and non-profit partners, with the goal to achieve “buy-in” for creation and maintenance of Community Agriculture Programs throughout Cumberland County.

“Conservation Districts continue to expand their urban outreach, growing their technical capacity at the same time as they grow their reach, forging relationships with nontraditional partners and customers that they might not have directly assisted before,” NACD President Tim Palmer said. “We are proud to offer support to bolster their work to improve our nation’s natural resources.”

NACD and NRCS have issued grants in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and including today’s announcement, have awarded more than $5 million in funding for 102 grants across 34 states. This round of funding marks the first year where previous grant recipients were eligible to apply for funding for new projects. 

“It’s a testament to the leadership of Conservation Districts within their communities, of the strength of our partnerships, and of the importance of conservation on every acre, no matter what or where the landscape,” Palmer said.

Read more about the conservation district’s project, as well as the other awardees’ project descriptions, on NACD’s 2020 Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Recipients webpage.

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The National Association of Conservation Districts is the non-profit organization that represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, their state associations and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more than 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit: www.nacdnet.org.