National Association of State Conservation Agencies Forum - Recent Topics

TSPs - are your districts, association, state agency staff certified TSPs?

Nikki Brinson — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:09:05 +0000

Who is a TSP in your state? Specifically, are there any conservation districts that provide that service (or state agency/association staff)?

Recommendations for LMS to Train District Employees

Sam Allbee — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:40:50 +0000

Hi everyone! The NC Soil & Water Conservation Division is considering implementing a Learning Management System (LMS) to onboard and train district staff.

Does anyone currently use an LMS for district or statewide staff training? If so, which one, and what has your experience been like (ease of use, cost, features)? Any recommendations or lessons learned would be appreciated!

Districts as Stormwater Utilities?

Clare Ireland — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 17:41:47 +0000

Vermont is looking at creating regional stormwater utilities for the first time. Currently, Vermont does not have general purpose county government and our Conservation Districts have mostly stayed out of regulatory clean water issues, working instead in the non-regulatory space, so I'm wondering how other states do this. A few questions:

Do any Conservation Districts themselves either serve as regional stormwater utilities or host them?
If not hosting the stormwater utility directly, do any Conservation Districts partner with stormwater utilities or receive funding from them (for example, for outreach and education or technical assistance)?
For districts that are part of MS4 compliance, does that work intersect at all with stormwater utilities? And what does that partnership/workflow look like?

This is an area I don't have a lot of experience in, so any thoughts about what works or doesn't work for Conservation Districts in the regulatory clean water space around stormwater management would be really helpful.

Thanks!

Clare

Communications, Education and Social Media Engagement

Kelsey Kempker — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:48:49 +0000

How are other states assisting conservation districts in engaging landowners to utilize conservation practices? Are districts utilizing social media? Who administers social media accounts, are there templates that are provided for what to post ect? Do any states have a curriculum or program that they use to provide education in schools or at engagement events, if so what are they?

Seeking Insight: Supporting SWCDs with Statute Interpretation

Breegan Andersen — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:16:46 +0000

Hi all, I'm looking to learn how other state conservation agencies assist their SWCDs in interpreting statutes relevant to district operations. In our state, recent legislative changes have led to a noticeable uptick in legal interpretation questions from districts. While our agency’s general counsel has been helpful, their role isn’t to serve as legal counsel for SWCDs, and we’re finding that more questions are being elevated than in the past.

I'm curious:

How do your agencies handle requests for legal interpretation from districts?

Do you have dedicated staff who assist with statute interpretation?

Have you developed internal guidance, FAQs, or other tools to help districts navigate legal questions?

Is there a formal process for obtaining legal opinions without overburdening agency counsel?

Any examples, lessons learned, or resources you’re willing to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your insights!

State statutes for Soil Health / Soil Health Assessments

Elliot Lagacy — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:56:16 +0000

Do any other States have statutes or acts concerning soil health and soil assessments?

State Committee Voting Member Position Descriptions

Bethany Bzduch — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 11:26:17 +0000

Has anyone developed position descriptions for the voting members who serve on their State Committee?

Vehicle liability insurance when district technicians use NRCS vehicles

Marsha Setzkorn-Meyer — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:00:57 +0000

We continue to work on our TA/vehicle liability issue. For those at the state sharing session last year, I presented this issue. In Kansas, we have “DOC” technicians. They are funded through an agreement with NRCS. DOC funds 25% and NRCS funds the other 75%. The “DOC Techs” work in the NRCS office, doing district, state and federal technical assistance. They use NRCS tools and equipment and use the NRCS trucks. Currently they are not covered by federal tort – or anything else from NRCS should they be involved in an accident in the NRCS truck. Our district managers have determined that most district liability insurances do not cover them either, including the popular non-owned vehicle rider.

When I presented this last year at NASCA, it seemed as if we were the only ones with this issue. Is any other state struggling with this issue? If not, how/what insurance covers your technicians?

Seeking other states with summer programs for high school students

Michelle Conner — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 13:58:38 +0000

I came to the NASCA annual meeting two years ago and presented on our state’s Natural Resources Conservation Workshop. I’m working on a project idea and I wanted to see if there are other states (and contacts) that have similar summer workshop programs for high school students.

Conservation District Purpose

Marsha Setzkorn-Meyer — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 13:57:36 +0000

It seems rather elementary, but does your state (or do your districts) have a written purpose for conservation districts? What is the reason they exist? Most of us know why or think we know why, but is it written anywhere? We are encouraging districts to write or re-write their mission statements and the purpose is relevant to creating the mission. If you have one, we would appreciate if you would share....