Ashland SWCD Receives Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant

Today, the Ashland Soil & Water Conservation District in Ashland, Ohio announced it was awarded an urban agriculture conservation grant through a partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to boost technical capacity nationwide.

“This grant will bring vital resources to bear in Ashland County that will allow us to provide technical assistance to install hands-on conservation practices and programs in Ashland County’s urban areas – areas that we have not had the funding or resources to focus on in the past,” said Jane Houin, Ashland SWCD district program administrator. “We are especially excited about the opportunities this grant provides to work with our county’s Head Start centers to provide hands-on urban agriculture education in the form of gardens at their centers as well as the opportunity to install and showcase several conservation projects throughout the city of Ashland and at the Ashland County Fairgrounds.”

Ashland SWCD was one of 21 conservation districts across 13 states to receive funding. NACD and NRCS established the Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Initiative in 2016 to help conservation districts and their partners provide much-needed technical assistance for agricultural conservation in developed or predominantly developing areas. 

The grant will allow Ashland SWCD to expand their programming by hiring an urban and education specialist to implement the programs outlined in the grant proposal. Those include partnering with community groups including the city of Ashland, Kno-Ho-Co Head Start, the Ashland County Fairboard, and local FFA chapters to install urban gardens at the county’s Head Start centers, bringing garden access to low-income families. The grant will also focus on installing practices to effectively manage stormwater and improve pollinator habitat – all while creating hands-on educational opportunities for students.

“Conservation districts continue to expand their urban outreach, growing their technical capacity at the same time as they grow their reach, forging relationships with nontraditional partners and customers that they might not have directly assisted before,” NACD President Tim Palmer said. “We are proud to offer support to bolster their work to improve our nation’s natural resources.”

NACD and NRCS have issued grants in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and including today’s announcement, have awarded more than $5 million in funding for 102 grants across 34 states. This round of funding marks the first year where previous grant recipients were eligible to apply for funding for new projects.  

“It’s a testament to the leadership of conservation districts within their communities, of the strength of our partnerships, and of the importance of conservation on every acre, no matter what or where the landscape,” Palmer said. 

Read more about the conservation district’s project, as well as the other awardees’ project descriptions, on NACD’s 2020 Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Recipients webpage.