USDA NRCS & JVCD To Host Working Group Meeting to Gather Input on Resource Concerns

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Jefferson Valley Conservation District will host a Local Working Group meeting to gather input from local stakeholders on how NRCS can most effectively deliver conservation assistance in Jefferson County. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, immediately following the Jefferson Valley Conservation District meeting which is at 11:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in the conference room at the Borden Hotel, please use the Main Street entrance.

Every year, Local Working Group meetings allow farmers, ranchers, conservation partners, and other members of the community to discuss the natural resource needs of the county. Based on feedback from those meetings, NRCS prepares and updates long-range plans. That information is the basis for a targeted implementation plan which is a strategy to help agricultural producers in an area implement conservation practices to address a specific resource concern.

Each targeted implementation plan is the culmination of a multi-partnership effort that identifies a specific natural resource problem, sets goals and objectives, evaluates alternatives, establishes partner roles, and develops an implementation and monitoring plan.

Convened by local NRCS district conservationists and conservation districts, the local working group's responsibilities include:

• Identifying the biggest conservation needs within the county.

• Prioritizing those conservation needs that can be addressed by NRCS programs.

• Recommending NRCS conservation program funding focus on a particular resource concern.

• Assisting NRCS with public outreach and information efforts.

NRCS is seeking a diverse membership from the local community with agricultural interests and an understanding of existing natural resource issues. NRCS invites agricultural producers with crops and livestock, owners of nonindustrial private forest land, community agriculture, representatives of agricultural and environmental organizations, Tribal members and leadership, and representatives of other governmental agencies carrying out agricultural and natural resource conservation programs and activities to attend the Local Working Group meeting.

Local Working Group meeting notices are posted on the Montana NRCS website at http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov. Use the USDA service center locator at http://www.farmers.gov/contact to find your local service center or look under the Contact Us tab on the Montana NRCS website.