NACD Survey Finds 3 Major Concerns
Published: Friday, March 14, 2025
The National Assn. of Conservation Districts has released a report about the impacts of recent executive orders and funding freezes on America's locally led conservation delivery system, including conservation districts and the producers and communities they serve.
The report was informed by a survey the association distributed to conservation districts last month, which received over 350 responses from across 45 states and territories.
Informed by the survey responses, the report underscores three major themes:
• The fund-ing freeze has widespread impacts on producers, conservation and local economies.
• NRCS termina-tions and staffing shortages will have long-term impacts on the quality and timeliness of technical assistance and over-all service.
• We must act to protect partnerships and the future of the voluntary, locally led conserva-tion delivery system.
The federal funding pause is also having impacts on infrastructure, and placing strain on state, Tribal and local governments. In response to the survey, conservation districts across the country shared con-cern for projects that have been put on hold. These include projects to repair high-hazard dams, recover from and mitigate future impacts of wildfires, and replace culverts and other water systems to maintain water quality.
The report also includes an extensive collection of anonymized quotes from conservation districts. These quotes explore the varied impacts of these actions across the country.
Many respondents commented on the termination of federal employees, deeply concerned about the lost investment in communities, reduced produc-tivity, and diminished quality and timeliness of service to America's producers. "Good, qualified employees were hired over the last year and were making a positive impact on our situation," said one conservation district. "These same employees were the ones that were fired in the first round (). Losing these valuable employees directly effects the ability of the agency to fulfill the existing contracts with our same producers that are struggling to exist."
Other respondents noted critical impacts are not always obvious at first glance. "Our coun-ty had the most NRCS EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) contracts in the state last year," said an-other conservation district that then detailed potential impacts to public health. "We are in a sensitive ecological area, and cover crops and no-till have taken off in a big way as a way to continue dairy production in the area while also protecting our groundwater. Our e-coli positive wells have decreased significantly in recent years, in part due to large-scale practice shifts. I am deeply concerned about the effect that funding loss will have on our groundwater and public health; a hidden cost that doesn't show up in a farm balance sheet."
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