UPPER MARLBORO, MD – Today the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District (PGSCD) 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.
PGSCD was one of 20 conservation districts across 14 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 community-oriented agricultural projects in both urban and rural contexts. PGSCD has partnered with Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and ECO City Farms to launch an urban farm incubator at Watkins Regional Park. NACD granted PGSCD $50,000 towards its urban farm incubator initiative which will connect urban farmers to the land, infrastructure, training and other resources necessary to launch an urban farm enterprise that implements soil and water conservation practices to preserve and protect the County’s soil and water resources. In addition, the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council, University of Maryland Extension, NRCS-MD, and Maryland Dept. of Agriculture pledge to provide additional in-kind support through technical assistance and training.
“We are excited to receive our second NACD Urban Agricultural Conservation Grant. The first NACD UAC grant in 2018 was instrumental in building a successful urban ag conservation program in our Soil Conservation District,” said Steven E. Darcey-CPESC, PGSCD’s District Manager. “This second grant will enable us to partner with other like-minded stakeholders that wish to educate urban and peri-urban producers while promoting sound soil and water conservation stewardship.”
This is the fifth round of funding awarded by NACD and NRCS, with grants totaling $5.6 million for 122 projects across 35 states.
“The Urban Agriculture Conservation grants provide opportunities for conservation districts to continue their great work in new and different ways,” NACD President Michael Crowder said. “The projects we’re announcing today will help conservation districts reach new audiences and build new programs to provide technical assistance in a variety of community-oriented settings.”
See the full list of 2021 grantees on NACD’s 2021 Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Recipients webpage (when available), and read more about past grantees on NACD’s Urban Agriculture Conservation Grant Initiative Story Map.
The National Association of Conservation Districts is the non-profit organization that represents the nation’s 3,000 conservation districts, their state associations and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more than 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit: www.nacdnet.org.
