The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD) in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has secured nearly $17 million investment in programming, staffing and district fiscal support. With an eye on celebrating the MAGIC of Conservation through vital Soil & Water Conservation District programing, four agreements are in process and primed to elevate AISWCD services for local SWCDs and the communities they serve.
Building on a tradition of providing locally led conservation, with these investments the 97 Soil and Water Conservation Districts across the state will receive vital resource support, fiscal investments, and renewed energy.
- NRCS Program Support Agreement: With over $6.4 million, the renegotiated one-year extension to the NRCS/AISWCD Agreement for Program Support will raise funding for districts that opted into delivering technical support for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Funds will also allow for the Association to provide direct capacity building and professional development support to all district staff and directors. Resources have been reserved to provide administrative support for districts undergoing staffing transitions. New AISWCD staff will support districts with human resources needs, including but not limited to staff recruitment, hiring, training, and long-term mentoring.
- IRA Funding Agreement: Through a new NRCS agreement with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, AISWCD will receive $4 million to advance outreach and technical assistance for climate smart practices, support local districts to advance local working groups, and elevate watershed planning on the land use council level. Individual districts will be invited to participate in the initiative in which funds will be distributed over a three-year period. Funds are intended for your Association to provide direct service and professional development support for all districts, annual fiscal investments for participating districts, and support to invigorate all 16 Land Use Councils.
- Regional Conservation Partnership Program Funding: The Sand County Foundation has invited AISWCD to join forces with their $13.8 million in Regional Conservation Partnership Program initiative to advance farmer-led water quality improvement across Illinois, of which roughly $5.6 million will come to Illinois. The award from NRCS will allow an Illinois partnership co-led by AISWCD and American Farmland Trust to initiate farmer-led watershed groups across the state via Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The funding will provide incentives and technical assistance for a variety of farm conservation practices. The effort is inspired by the highly successful Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant program, which requires a commitment by at least five farmers and a conservation partner within a specific watershed boundary and offers up to $40,000 in grant funding per group. The farmers and partners design financial incentives and outreach/education activities based on local needs. The program in Illinois will engage interested local Soil and Water Conservation Districts to serve as the conservation partner and receive an administrative fee to support the group and provides an opportunity to establish thematic focused producer groups (i.e. pumpkin producers, livestock operations, orchards, urban farms, etc.) to advance locally led conservation.
- Working Land Climate Corps Funding: The USDA announced 28 host organizations to train future conservation and climate leaders, as part of President Biden’s American Climate Corps. AISWCD was named among this elite group of conservation organizations to establish and advance a Working Lands Climate Corps (WLCC). The AISWCD program named the Conservation Outreach Volunteers Engaging Resiliency (COVER) Corps was awarded over $600,000 to train the next generation of conservation and climate leaders, providing technical training and career pathway opportunities for young people and helping them deliver climate-smart agriculture solutions for farmers and ranchers. Working with SWCD partners across the 16 Land Use Councils, COVER Corps members will be provided with technical training and career pathway opportunities, helping them deliver economic benefits through climate-smart solutions for farmers, landowners and urban/rural communities across the state, now and in the future.
These new investments through your Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts ensures our 97 Soil and Water Conservation District members are accessing vital resources, recruiting premier team members/directors, accessing professional and board development, advancing climate-smart practices, engaging current and new stakeholders, diversifying programmatic offering, augmenting financial investments, and gaining the competitive edge needed during a time that conservation is needed across all urban and rural communities we serve.
These 1-, 3-, and 5-year infusions of NRCS financial investments into AISWCD and Illinois’ frontline boots-on-the-ground Soil and Water Conservation Districts delivers vital resources during a time and opportunity to showcase to stakeholders, investors and elected officials that SWCDs are essential to advancing conservation practices across Illinois’ 35.8 million acres of urban and rural lands, 880 miles of rivers that border the state, 87,110 miles of rivers and streams within its borders, more than 1.6 million acres of surface water, nearly 88,000 inland lakes/ponds, and 1 million acres of wetlands and marshes.
Stay tuned for details on these exciting new investments and how each SWCD can participate and benefit. Please note that these new investments do not replace the $4 million which were reduced in the state operation funds but do provide potential for showcasing the vital importance of SWCDs in the efforts to put more conservation on the ground at a time that we need to augment not diminish our locally led efforts.
Michael Woods
Executive Director
Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts
