NRDP-NRCS Partnerships
Here are some of the successful partnerships that State Councils have had with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. For more information, contact Office of Community Development Desk Officer Ella Ennis.
The Colorado Rural Development Council, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, The Partnering Institute, the National Park Service-Rivers & Trails Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sonoran Institute, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the U.S. Forest Service, created the Conservation Assistance Tools (CAT) database. Launched in 2000, this searchable database has information on available grants, cost-sharing, and technical assistance for natural resources projects in the western United States. It is designed to help local communities identify the information, potential partners, and financial support needed to undertake conservation projects.
The Connecticut Rural Development Council was a founding member and organizer of a multi-interest statewide coalition of over 60 organizations that joined together to educate the public and state policy-makers about the need to preserve farmland. Known as the Working Lands Alliance, the coalition successfully raised public awareness and introduced state legislation that significantly increased funding for a development rights program. Through its extensive network of partners, the Council was able to broaden the base of the Working Lands Alliance by recruiting groups traditionally not involved in farmland issues. In addition, the Council made state legislators aware of their urban-rural connections and interdependence. As a result, the legislators collaborated to introduce legislation that led to state funding of NRCS's Farmland Protection Program. In 1999, the State of Connecticut spent no funds on farmland preservation. As a direct result of this effort, $10.3 million has been spent or pledged through June 2003.
To further support compliance with farm conservation regulations, Idaho Rural Partners developed One Plan, a single farm conservation plan that comprehensively meets government requirements. To gain farmers' and ranchers' acceptance of One Plan, the Council facilitated meetings, developed a concept paper, raised seed funding, identified brokering partners and funding, and marketed the plan. IRP gained local and national support, and the US EPA, USDA-National Resources Conservation Service, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture formally recognized One Plan as a national leader in farm conservation planning. In 1999, after IRP and its key partners met with USDA officials, One Plan became 1 of 25 USDA Business Process Reengineering projects nationwide.
The Idaho Rural Partnership formed a regional partnership with the Idaho Resource Conservation and Development Association, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, American Farmland Trust, and the Idaho Cooperative Extension System to conduct land use protection workshops. The workshops were designed to address the alarming rate at which farmland, grazing land, and private timberland is being taken out of working production in some portions of Idaho and the Intermountain West. IRP helped obtain seed funding, gathered the partners, hosted the planning committee meetings, marketed the workshops, and supplied the workshop trainer. Local planning committees handled logistics, marketing, and local speaker recruitment. In spring 2000, five workshops were held. Thirty to 75 participants attended each workshop, with total attendance reaching about 225 people. The workshops helped residents understand what is happening in their county and what tools exist to help guide development. Information was presented in a value-neutral way, offering a balanced perspective that was fair to those in favor of property rights and to proponents of planning. The workshop format was so successful that it is now being used in Utah.
The Idaho Rural Partnership helped design, market, and present the Harmony Workshop in August, 2000 at the Salmon River Challenge retreat center near Riggins. The focus of the workshop was a training session entitled, "Working Effectively with American Indians," presented to heighten rural practitioners' awareness of the realities of living in Indian Country. The workshop and training reflect IRP's consistent affirmation of the power of diversity and inclusion in community decision-making and the need to respect the human dignity of all. Partnering with IRP in this endeavor were the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), five Idaho tribes, and the Idaho Department of Commerce. Expanded to target other federal, state, and local agencies, this NRCS-based training was the first of its kind offered to state and local officials. The five tribes sent more than a dozen speakers, who were joined by a cadre of national Native American trainers in describing Indian Country from personal, spiritual, cultural, legal, economic, and historical perspectives. IRP helped secure local government scholarships that helped make participation in this event possible for some attendees.
In March 2001, seven coastal towns in Downeast Maine hosted a multi-community workshop, organized by the Maine Rural Development Council to engage area residents in strategic planning for their region's future. This was a defining moment for these communities, as they face significant social, environmental, and economic issues, which pose opportunities as well as challenges. These issues include the closure of the Schoodic Naval Base, concerns about the sustainability of current lobster yields, and the escalating costs of coastal land. A variety of public- and private-sector organizations, including the Department of Defense and NRCS, partnered with MeRDC on this effort. Their role focused on building local community capacity for asset-based development with a strategic vision grounded in future possibilities. In organizing this regional coalition for strategic planning, MeRDC and its partners helped participating communities develop local strategies in four issue areas: (1) tourism, recreation, and natural resources; (2) community economic renewal; (3) living and livelihood, transportation, communication, and energy; and (4) education, youth and culture, and workforce development. MeRDC produced and disseminated the workshop proceedings as a public policy education tool and, with its project partners, established a follow-up plan to continue the work begun at this workshop.
The Rural Partners of Michigan, with the Michigan Association of Regions and the Michigan Association of Resource, Conservation, and Development Councils, hosted the 2001 Partnership Conference, "Building Sustainable Communities," in March 2001 in Battle Creek. Thirty-two sponsoring organizations, including USDA-RD and USDA- Farm Service Agency, partnered with RDCM and its co-hosts for this event, which drew over 260 participants. The conference kicked off with an afternoon workshop dedicated to grant writing and helping local community organizations tap into funding opportunities; the Council of Michigan Foundations coordinated and sponsored this workshop. The conference then focused on many of the issues important in building thriving, sustainable communities. Workshop sessions included Community Visioning and Capacity Building, Strategies for Brownfield Redevelopment, Facilitating Business and Community Development, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Agriculture Development, Facilitating Coordinated Planning and Cooperation Between Communities, Master Planning and Zoning -- Surviving the Legal Challenges, Community, Natural Resources Inventory, and Natural Resource Protection and Innovative Designs for Development.
Minnesota Rural Partners convened Council partners with interests in the Minnesota River Watershed, specifically addressing agro-forestry issues. These institutions developed a strategy (the Minnesota River Agro-Forestry Initiative) to promote agro-forestry. The strategy caused the MN Department of Natural Resources - Forestry Division to promote agro-forestry in the riparian areas by recruiting landowners interested in planting trees on their Conservation Resource Program (CRP) acres. Demonstrations have been conducted throughout the basin. The Prairie County and Wes Min RC&D councils have hosted many of the demonstration site visits and conducted training sessions for landowners and others. With funds from a USDA Forestry Rural Development Grant, MRP produced a video to promote collaborative processes using the Minnesota River Agro-forestry example. In this effort, the MRP is raising awareness and promoting good conservation processes and practices; is assisting development of a tree growing industry in Minnesota; and is supporting the work of the RC&D councils.
The Mississippi Rural Development Council was recently approached by their Greenwood RC&D Council partner and asked to help coordinate a "Wheels to Work" initiative. The purpose of this program is to provide individuals transitioning from welfare rolls with a car that may be used for travel to and from employment. It is anticipated that this will be a long-term project, based on the success of similar programs in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana. MSRDC agreed to perform the initial staging of the program before turning it over to a quasi-federal/state team that will form a 501(c)(3). Key partners is this initiative include state legislators (the Health and Welfare Chair and Committee members), Mississippi Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medicaid, Mississippi Department of Transportation, Mississippi RC&D Councils, USDA/NRCS, GSA, and several local car dealerships that have committed to an informal MOU.
Montana Rural Development Council works with all seven RC&Ds in Montana. For the past two years, MTRDC has partnered to improve technological communications for Headwaters RC&D in Butte, MT. In those efforts, MTRDC helped them to develop their own website, and more recently they obtained grant funding to ensure that each county in the Headwaters region has a website. These county websites will soon be linked, and all will have the capability of e-commerce for local businesses.
The Ohio Rural Development Program actively coordinated and promoted the Coal Combustion Products (CCP) Pilot Program in the state of Ohio. By-products from the combustion of coal create a concrete-like material that can be used in agriculture, highway and related civil engineering, mine/land reclamation, and manufacturing applications. Because coal combustion occurs more often in rural locations, its by-products provide these areas with the opportunity to cost-effectively develop the material. In addition, using this material productively protects the environment by eliminating the need to dispose of it in landfills. Since January 1998, the CCP program provided technical assistance on the construction of more than 200 feedlot pads on Ohio farms. In addition, it has shared technical information with the USDA-NRCS, University Extension, and state Department of Agriculture personnel outside of Ohio on the use of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) material for agricultural applications by conducting demonstrations on using compacted FGD material as a liner for water-holding ponds.
Oklahoma Rural Development Council has created 18 multi-county coalitions made up of all the local "players" to strategically address regional issues, including adequate clean water supply, tourism, economic development, and other issues on which RC&Ds are working. Each coalition pursues its own projects, but the ORDC serves as a connection among the coalitions for sharing information, successes and challenges. An example is the Tenkiller Lake Coalition formed in 1994. This region has 29 separate water districts, some with inadequate water treatment facilities, and approximately 30 percent of the citizens are not being served by any system. Many of the underserved are Native Americans. The ORDC assisted by assembling a resource team of federal and state experts to conduct an inventory and analysis of water resources and needs. Funding for the study was provided by a collaboration of three rural electric cooperatives, three rural water associations, the Tahlequah Public Works Authority, the Cherokee Hills RC&D and the Cherokee Nation.
The Texas Rural Development Council created Resource Teams which assist communities in identifying their needs, setting goals for community improvement and opening lines of communication with community developers for future use. Participating communities are not charged for this service; they are asked only to provide in-kind services such as lodging and meals, when possible. The Teams have broad-based membership from local, state, and federal governments, as well as from the private for-profit and non-profit sectors. The Resource Team gathers a wide variety of information from within the community to generate a list of needs and goals that all community members can identify with. One member of each Resource Team comes from a Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council, and continues to work with the community after the team visit. Begun in 1995 with a team working with Early, Texas, this effort has expanded since then. For instance, in 1998 six communities participated in the Resource Team process.
Through a grant provided by the Four Corners Sustainable Forests Partnership, the Utah Rural Development Council joined with the Southern Utah Forest Products Alliance (SUFPA) to sponsor and conduct networking workshops in a six-county area of the southern Utah's Four Corners region. Designed to promote the value of community forestry and cooperative marketing to the region's forestry employees and woodworkers, the open-house workshops are helping to build cross-regional networks among wood businesses and link these enterprises to local business resources. Such resources include county economic development directors, RC&D representatives, Workforce Services specialists, USU Extension Agents, and SBDC offices.
Wyoming Rural Development Council, in partnership with the Wyoming Business Council, offers an affordable community assessment tool for the state's rural communities. The project was developed to provide strategic planning to rural communities that lacked the financial resources to support such an effort. Looking for an affordable, easy process that would produce good results, WRDC modeled its community assessment program after the Texas Rural Development Council's Resource Team program. In developing its own Resource Team program to conduct community assessments, WRDC trained 130 individuals from partnering organizations, which include the DOT, HUD, NRCS RC&Ds, and the U.S. Forest Service. Representatives from these organizations donate their time to serve on resource teams as members or team leaders and then write a report upon completion of a community assessment. Thirteen assessments are already completed, and 15 more are scheduled to begin in September 2001. One year after program implementation, each of the 13 communities WRDC assessed has completed projects, built beneficial relationships with various rural organizations, and improved their communications network. For example, the first participating community, Douglas, has already benefited from the assessment, noting in its follow-up report that it has formulated a downtown merchant association and developed a tech training center.
The Wyoming Rural Development Council was established in 1994 because of the efforts of Reed Gardner, who at that time was the Western Director for RC&D and a National Officer. Since that time, Wyoming has partnered with NRCS and RC&Ds on a number of highly successful projects. Currently, WRDC is assisting Wyoming Conservation Districts in developing community outreach plans for watershed planning for the State of Wyoming. The Conservation Districts received EPA and DEQ grant to complete this project. WRDC also partnered with NRCS and RC&D to serve on local community resource teams much like those described in the Texas example.
