News Archives
Wild Horse and Burro Meeting
 On Monday, October 29, the UACD provided comments to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Committee meeting in Salt Lake City. See the attached letter here for additional information.
Photo credit: Tammy Pearson (Twin M CD Manager). |
September Zone Happenings
Zone 1 held their annual "Grill Your District" Day and participated in the fourth-grade Natural Resource Field Days up Logan Canyon. Zone 2 held several events in September, including Grill Your District, Farm Field Day, and a farmers' market booth. They also moved their main office to Salt Lake City. Zone 5 co-sponsored their annual Upper Sevier River Watershed Tour in Panguitch Valley. Zone 7 co-sponsored a tour of the Seeley Fire area. For more details on these and other stories, click here. |
UCC Regional Coordinating Council Meeting
 The quarterly meeting of the Utah Conservation Commission for the Rich, Cache, and Box Elder Counties was well supported and highlighted a number of important conservation issues; fire management, proposed Utah Environmental Stewardship Program, and regulatory and public pressures on cattle grazing adjacent to Bear Lake. Participating were staff professionals from five conservation districts, the Utah Grazing Improvement Program, NRCS, and USU Extension/Utah Division of Water Quality. The new coordinating councils, seven covering the state of Utah, are expected to improve coordination among Utah’s conservation partners and have the opportunity to raise important local/regional issues to the Utah Conservation Commission. |
NACD SW Pacific Region Meeting
 At Gooding Farms, near Boise, ID, conservation district supervisors saw the harvesting of hops close-up. The two day NACD SW and Pacific Region meeting was informative for national and western conservation programs and issues. Supervisors and agency professionals attended from eleven western states. CD supervisors from Utah included Wendell Stembridge (Kamas CD), Sid Smart (Alpine CD), and Lloyd Jessop (Dixie CD). |
NACD/UACD Represented at ACWA Meeting
Gordon Younker, UACD’s EVP represented NACD at the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) annual meeting in Park City, Utah August 12-15, 2012. He with Commissioner Leonard Blackham and Utah Water Quality Director Walt Baker were part of a panel, “Wrestling the 800 Pound Gorilla: Innovative Nutrient Partnerships.” Click here for Mr. Younker’s report. State water quality administrators and the EPA addressed the progress and future challenges at the now 40 year anniversary of the passage of the Clean Water Act. The ACWA program devoted significant time interchange and discussion between topic panel members and those attending from throughout the United States. A consistent theme was the emphasis for states to deliver federal clean water mandates through partnerships with NGOs, and very often, conservation districts were mentioned with appreciation.  Left to right: Jeff Manning, ACWA Climate Adaptation Committee, NC Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources; Don Parrish, American Farm Bureau Federation; Gordon Younker, UACD; Pixie Hamilton, USGS Cooperative Water Programs; Commissioner Leonard Blackham, Utah Department of Ag. & Food; Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, ACWA Executive Director & General Counsel; and Walter Baker, ACWA President & Director Utah Division of Water Quality. |
Recently Released County Resource Assessments
The Carbon County and Emery County Resource Assessments are available for reveiw and comment. Comments can be emailed to roger.barton@ut.nacdnet.net or mailed to the following addresses.
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UACD Annual Employee Meeting Held in June
The UACD held their annual employee meeting on June 28-29, 2012 in Provo, Utah. Employees spent the afternoon at Seven Peaks before the meetings began.
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UACD Board Goes Paperless
 Pictured left, in June 2012, the UACD board and zone coordinators receive training on the use of their new iPads, acquired to cut back on paper use and to provide a way to share information in an efficient timeline.
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UCC Field Day
| The Utah Conservation Commission Field Day was held in May 2012. Click here to view a slideshow of the event. |
Recently Released County Resource Assessments
The Iron County Resource Assessment, recently completed by the Enterprise & Iron Conservation District, is available here for review and comment. Comments can be emailed to tyce.palmer@scinternet.net or mailed to P.O. Box 806, Panguitch, UT 84759. The Uintah County, Duchesne County, and Daggett County Resource Assessments are available for reveiw and comment. Comments can be emailed to darrell.gillman@ut.nacdnet.net or mailed to the following addresses.
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2012 UDAF Review
On April 30, 2012, UACD participated with others, including Utah Conservation Commission members, four legislators, four county commissioners, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, at a review planned by Commissioner Leonard Blackham. The review was the result of nearly six months of dialog between UACD and the Commissioner in response to an October 19th 2011 report to Governor Herbert, Optimizing and Streamlining State Government. Recommendation #25 asked to evaluate UACD for coordination with the Department of Agriculture and accountability for State funds. UACD’s President and Executive Vice President participated and presented information. President Stembridge spoke on Utah’s conservation district principles and UACD positions (click here to read).  Pictured (right to left) are UDAF NW Area GIP Coordinator Troy Forrest, UACD Board member Spencer Holmgren, GIP State Board Member Jay Tanner, Box Elder County Commissioner LuAnn Adams, and UACD Zone Coordinator Bracken Henderson. Like others participating, they had been encouraged to cooperate to hire a conservation district manager for Box Elder County. |
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