NASCA members had an excellent visit in Washington, D.C. last week conducting Hill visits during the NACD Fly In. On Wednesday, NASCA members from across the country visited with their respective federal delegations in cooperation with their supervisors, commissioners, USDA-NRCS representatives, and state associations. These were extremely successful, in part due to the leadership of the state agencies present.

On Thursday, NASCA members gathered to educate and collaborate with USDA leadership and federal delegations. The group started its day with a meeting with NRCS Chief Terry Cosby and Associate Chief Louis Aspey. This meeting was vital in strengthening and enhancing our national partnership with NRCS. Afterwards, the group met with the NRCS Regional Conservationists to focus on engagement at the state and regional levels.

Additionally, USDA-FPAC Under Secretary Robert Bonnie graciously met with NASCA members for an hour to discuss Farm Bill initiatives, utilizing state agencies for technical agreements, and the overall impact that NASCA members bring for conservation. The group finished its day with a visit to Senator Lindsey Graham’s (vice chair of Senate Appropriations) office to discuss the impact of state agencies, conservation funding priorities, and Farm Bill priorities identified by NASCA members.

This was the first year NASCA organized federal delegation and national leadership visits with a strong state conservation agency presence. It showed our strength, reach, and sincerity in our desire to partner for locally-led conservation. I am extremely excited for the impact these visits will bring to NASCA and our members. I would like to thank those NASCA members who were able to join us and provide such an instrumental impact for the day. I look forward to next year’s visits and hope to see you there with us!

NASCA President Tyler Brown