Joe Sicking of Paradise Valley, NV received the NvACD Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award and is recognized here for his decades of service to the Paradise Valley Conservation District and the Nevada Conservation Commission. Left to right: Doug Martin, NvACD President, Joe Sicking, James Settelmeyer, Director, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Dominique Etchegoyhen, Deputy Director of DCNR.
Nevada Association of Conservations Districts (NvACD) held its annual meeting at the Boys and Girls Club in Winnemucca, Nevada on November 8, 2023. The NvACD advocates for the 28 Conservation Districts (CDs) in Nevada. More information can be found at NvACD.org. CDs are comprised of locally elected residents who work together to address local natural resource concerns in their communities. They are a division of the state government and hold and manage grants to promote on-the-ground, locally-led conservation activities.
The greeting and opening ceremony included a welcome from Jesse Hill, Humboldt County Commissioner and Paradise Sonoma CD County Appointed Supervisor, and the presentation of the flag by Humboldt General Hospital Emergency Medical Services Honor Guard.
The theme of the meeting was Empowering CDs To Meet the Mission of Locally Led Conservation. Representatives from Starr Valley CD in Elko County, Dayton Valley CD in Lyon County, Carson Valley CD in Douglas County, Smith Valley CD in Lyon County, Mason Valley CD in Lyon and Mineral Counties, Southern Nye CD in Nye County, and Paradise Sonoma CD in Humboldt County joined in a panel to share their successes and challenges with the audience and other CDs in attendance.
Adam Sullivan, State Engineer and Administrator of the NV Division of Water Resources summarized major water issues facing the State with a focus on how CDs and local partners might improve water use and management through the use of new mapping tools and partnerships. Additional presentations included the NV Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources, Conservation District Program updates and highlights for the year, and the National
Association of Conservation Districts updates on programs, grants and legislative activities taking place across the country.
An important announcement of a new funding agreement between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the NvACD was presented. The purpose of the agreement is to leverage resources from both the NRCS, NvACD, and external partners, including producers, to build collaborative working relationships in Nevada to increase and promote conservation projects and practices. Incoming NRCS State Conservationist Heidi Ramsey introduced herself. Her expected start date is early in the new year, 2024.
The meeting concluded with an awards banquet and auction to raise funds for the NvACD annual youth scholarship program. Joe Sicking of Paradise Valley was recognized with the NvACD Hall of Fame Lifetime of Service Award for over 30 years of service to his conservation district and the decades of service to the NV Conservation Commission and he also received a proclamation honoring him presented by Nevada State Senator Pete Goicoechea.
Other awards went to Carson Valley CD for Outstanding CD of 2023; Robert Burdick of the Battle Mountain Bureau of Land Management for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Conservation; and Cottonwood Ranch of Elko County for Conservation Excellence in Agricultural Production.
Joe Sicking of Paradise Valley, NV received the NvACD Hall of Fame Lifetime Service Award and is recognized here for his decades of service to the Paradise Valley Conservation District and the Nevada Conservation Commission. Left to right: Doug Martin, NvACD President, Joe Sicking, James Settelmeyer, Director, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Dominique Etchegoyhen, Deputy Director of DCNR.