Welcome to the 79th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Conservation Districts!
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NEW Solutions has legislative authority to administer Experienced Worker Programs, for the purpose of utilizing talent, skills, and experience of individuals aged 55 and older to provide technical, professional, and administrative services. These programs support various Federal agencies, including USDA, DOI and others, in achieving mission-critical objectives.
Our partnership with these agencies strengthens the workforce to meet the nation's expanding conservation needs. As highlighted in a recent Agri-Pulse article, USDA’s reliance on external partnerships underscores the pressing need to address conservation staffing challenges—a need in which NEW Solutions is a recognized leader.
During this session, participants can learn about the following: 1. Leveraging Experienced Talent: How Experienced Workers Support Conservation Projects 2. Overview of key tasks undertaken by experienced workers, including conservation planning, mapping, disaster recovery, and staff training. 3. Highlighting the unique contributions of experienced professionals in specialized areas such as dam safety and emergency action planning, where their knowledge is indispensable.
In 2022, the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) and over 60+ member companies and organizations across the agricultural supply chain, launched Eco-Harvest a Scope 3 ecosystem services market program for agriculture that incentivizes producers to adopt regenerative agriculture. This presentation will highlight lessons learned ramping up to Eco-Harvest launch and conducting four years of projects. The speaker, Alana Pacheco, will focus on some of the challenges ESMC has faced in developing and executing projects and solutions to these challenges including opportunities for co-investment. She'll also provide a case study from one specific project in Kansas.
Pacheco will cover how Scope 3 programs, when designed with agriculture in mind, can provide significant opportunities for increased ecosystem services - including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, increase soil carbon sequestration, improved water quality and water use efficiency, and increased biodiversity. These projects can also help producers increase soil health, improve resiliency, and earn income for practice changes.
