 |
Conservation Update
April 10 - 24, 2013
|
 |
 Executive Director's Report
Stewardship Week Starts Sunday!
"Where Does Your Water Shed" is the theme for this year's week-long celebration. Here in Indianapolis, Indiana Conservation Partnership (ICP) leaders and members of the Pathway to Water Quality (PWQ) Steering Committee will celebrate Indiana Stewardship Week and hear plans for Pathway to Water Quality's 20th Anniversary celebration. The event will take place Tuesday, Apr. 30 at 10 a.m. at Pathway to Water Quality.
 | |
PWQ entrance
|
This year's Stewardship Week theme is Where Does Your Water Shed? which fits perfectly with Pathway's mission to educate fairgoers about the importance of water quality in our everyday lives and how personal actions can make a difference in the entire watershed. The 20th Anniversary Restoration Project will be announced during the ceremony.
Over 260 ICP employees, supervisors and other conservation volunteers staff this premiere conservation exhibit every year during the Indiana State Fair. PWQ began in 1993 and now we're celebrating 20 years as an exhibit that shows the connection between clean water and healthy soils, and what we can do at home and on the farm to protect our soil and water quality!
Share Your Upcoming Events With Us!
The IASWCD maintains an online, continuously-updated calendar of events going on throughout the state and online (such as webinars). Please share your event information with us! Even "save the dates" are great. This way, your event can attract more people, and we can all better coordinate our events.
Google Tools Workshops to be Offered in May
The IDEA and the IASWCD are pleased to offer Google Tools Workshops next month! ISDA's Jennifer Pinkston will be leading these workshops. These trainings are only available to SWCD staff.
May 7: Loogootee. Download, print, write, & mail registration
May 9: Anderson. Quick online registration.
May 14: Monticello. Download, print, write, & mail registration.
4 R's / Nutrient Management and Stewardship Survey
This 20-minute survey, which closes on Friday, focuses on nutrient management and stewardship and specifically aims to identify ways to improve cooperation between conservationists, agricultural producers and agricultural retailers. This information will be used to develop strategies that will help make efforts more effective in accelerating the adoption of nutrient stewardship practices.
Have a great week!
Jennifer Boyle Warner, IASWCD Executive Director
|
 |
Indiana NRCS Honors Volunteers During National Volunteer Week
USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is celebrating National Volunteer Week April 21-27 by honoring Earth Team volunteers and expressing appreciation for their dedicated service and commitment to conservation. In Indiana, 1,510 volunteers donated a total of 23,472 hours valued at $511,455 last year. Earth Team volunteers help NRCS conservationists offer private landowners and others a range of services, from conservation technical assistance to teaching and generating awareness about conservation through the use of community projects.
Indiana Student Recognized at the White House
From the White House blog: "When a massive flood hit his town of Munster, Indiana several years ago, Nathan Kondamuri was moved by the potential of natural phenomena to profoundly impact human health and wellbeing. Thereafter, he envisioned a world where the power of nature, such as the immense power of the sun, could be harnessed in a more efficient manner to provide energy to various parts of the world. For the past three years, he has conducted cutting-edge research in the pursuit of a unique solar cell that creates electricity by mimicking photosynthesis. As finishes his senior year at Munster High School, he hopes to continue studying renewable technologies that will help to alleviate the negative effects of energy demand on society and the environment."
|
|
|
| Get In Touch |
April 28-May 5: National Stewardship Week; "Where Does Your Water Shed?"
May 1: Using Social Indicators in Watershed Management Projects (Webcast)
May 7, 9, 14: Google Tools Workshops. See details on IASWCD District Tools page.
May 15-17: Dynamics of Climate, a facilitator conference for implementing a new toolkit for climate education at Purdue.
June 27: Surface Mining Soils & Reclamation Field Day (producers needed -please see our calendar for more info)
|
Upcoming Deadlines
May 3:
The Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control has two grant options, a small scale grant project and a larger watershed scale grant project.
May 1:
The Fund for Wild Nature provides small grants
to projects with particular emphasis on those designed to defend threatened wilderness and biological diversity and the ecological issues not currently receiving adequate attention or funding.
May 17:
NFWF: Pulling Together Initiative
This grant is intended to help support the creation of local Cooperative Weed Management Area partnerships that bring together local landowners, citizens groups, and weed experts to develop and implement strategies for managing weed infestations on public lands, natural areas, and private working lands.
May 31:Annie's Grants for Gardens are provided to K-12 school gardens nationwide that connect children directly to real food. Two types of grants are provided: "Getting Started: Funds for Your New Program" and "Digging Deeper: Funds for Your Existing Program." View more grant opportunities here
|
Other News
|
EPA's "How's My Waterway" App Has New Features
EPA's app and website, How's My Waterway, helps you find information on the condition of your local waterways, what's being done to protect and restore those waterways, and what you can do to help. And now, How's My Waterway lets people find out even more about their local waterways.The new features include search results color-coded by condition, local information on watersheds, a watershed locator tool, and options to look up dischargers regulated by permits and individual runoff control projects for a specific waterway.
|
|
