The winds of the “dust bowl” have piled up large drifts of soil against this farmer’s barn. | Photo Credit: Arthur Rothstein and Library of Congress
CalCAN has long worked closely with California’s network of Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) that provide invaluable, locally-focused technical support for agricultural conservation and climate resilient practices. The California Association of RCDs serves, connects, and champions the RCD network. We are pleased to publish this perspective from Nancy Wahl-Scheurich, CARCD Executive Director, and Rick Gomez, President of the CARCD Board of Directors.
April 27th marked the 90th anniversary of the founding of the country’s Soil Conservation Service, a permanent agency created by Congress in 1935 under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Prompted by the Dust Bowl, the country’s most devastating agricultural crisis, the bill that established the Service stated that “the wastage of soil and moisture resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands…is a menace to the national welfare.”
Why RCDs Matter — Especially in California
Most Americans don’t know about this 90th anniversary of the Soil Conservation Service (which has since been renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS). But we ignore its mission at our peril since our very survival depends on healthy soil to grow food, drink clean water, and breathe clean air.
Critical to the Dust Bowl recovery, the rebuilding of topsoil, and the ecological practices that the NRCS funds to this day is a skilled workforce to provide science-based practical knowledge and technical assistance for farmers, ranchers, and other landowners. Soon after the Soil Conservation Service formed, a network of locally-governed Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) – similar to fire, police, and water districts – sprung up in every state. In California alone, there are approximately 95 RCDs working directly with farmers, ranchers, and foresters on a voluntary basis to plan and implement practices that prevent soil erosion and protect and improve California’s agricultural lands, forests, air, and water.
90-Year Collaboration Threatened
RCD staff have historically worked closely with their government partners, matching federal grant funding with willing farmers and sometimes even sharing office space. However, under the Trump administration and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, this 90-year collaboration is being severely tested. The administration is freezing grant payments and reimbursements to farmers and the organizations that support them, firing and furloughing NRCS staff, terminating NRCS office leases, and casting doubt on the government’s commitment to land stewardship.
As of early April, more than 50 RCDs in 49 counties have had substantial funding imperiled by federal freezes, totaling approximately $70 million and putting at least two dozen staff positions at risk. Several RCDs may have to shut down altogether. The money to pay the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts to assist RCDs in partnerships with California tribes is no longer funded. Many grants that support RCD outreach and assistance to underserved producers are frozen or terminated.
What’s at Stake
Here are just three of the dozens of stories we can share about the people and places being harmed by the actions of the Trump administration.
- The Monterey RCD has had $7.635 million in funding frozen and cannot complete its wildfire prevention work in the Elkhorn Slough, the Santa Lucia Mountains, and on Mt. Madonna. They have also halted flood risk-reduction projects along the Salinas River and technical assistance for farmers wanting to address their erosion and water management challenges.
- Gold Ridge RCD has over $13 million dollars in federal grants at risk, severely limiting their ability to do outreach to underserved farmers and ranchers and do wildfire fuels management education in Sonoma County. This freeze has a trickle-down effect on local producers, construction firms, engineers and RCD staff.
- Approximately $1.7 million has been held up for the Western Shasta RCD, money that would pay for wildfire mitigation and forest health activities to reduce wildfire risks in the district. The freeze has also halted work that was in progress to update Shasta County’s very outdated Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
We can think of no more appropriate way to mark the 90th birthday of the country’s longest and most impactful conservation effort than by funding projects like these and maintaining capacity at NRCS to help farmers stay in business while caring for the natural resources that sustain life on Earth.
