Annual Conference Deadline

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Friday, December 17^th

All proposals for symposia, oral or poster presentations, and workshops for the 2011 SWCS Annual Conference in Washington, DC, are due on Friday, December 17, 2010. If you are interested in making a presentation, organizing a symposium, or working with the SWCS Professional Development Committee to deliver a ½ day workshop in conjunction with the 2011 Annual Conference, go to the conference website for complete instructions.

All conference information is online at http://www.swcs.org/11AC.

2011 Annual Conference Call for Presentations Released

The Call for Presentations and Symposia has been released for the 66th SWCS International Annual Conference (July 17-20, 2011 in Washington, DC).
The theme of the conference is "Conservation Science and Policy: Global Perspectives and Applications" and the deadline for submissions is 12/17/2010. For more information or to download the Call for Presentations, go to http://www.swcs.org/11ac

SWCS/NRCS Workshop and Webinar - Soil Health for Grazing Lands and Croplands

SWCS/NRCS Workshop and Webinar

Soil Health for Grazing Lands and Croplands

Live from Monte Vista, Colo

November 2, 2010

8 a.m. — 3:30 p.m.

Two soil health experts from North Dakota will discuss the latest on cropland and rangeland system cover crops. The workshop will be streamed live on the web via Ustream.

Topics Include:

·         Soil Health Timeline

·         Cropping Systems Based on Soil Health

·         Cover Crops as a Tool

·         Team Building

·         Grazing Systems Based on Soil Health

·         Rebuilding Soil Health on a Farm (The Why)

Featured Speakers

Jay Fuhrer, District Conservationist

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Bismarck, North Dakota

Ken Miller, District Grazing Specialist/Technician

Burleigh County Soil Conservation District

Bismarck, North Dakota

There is no charge to participate via Ustream. Go to: www.swcs.org/colorado to watch.

To register and attend in person (in Monte Vista, CO) or for more information on the workshop, contact Mike Collins at (719) 589-6432 ext 138 or email at mike.collins@co.usda.gov.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Colorado Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) have partnered to conduct the training session.

Smart Solutions to Climate Change

Smart Solutions to Climate Change: Comparing Costs and Benefits
Edited by Bjorn Lomborg
The failure of the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009 revealed major flaws in the way the world's policy makers have attempted to prevent dangerous levels of increases in global temperatures. The expert authors in this specially commissioned collection focus on the likely costs and benefits of a very wide range of policy options, including geo-engineering, mitigation of CO2, methane and 'black carbon', expanding forest, research and development of low-carbon energy and encouraging green technology transfer.
413 pages, Cambridge University Press. Softcover ISBN-13: 9780521138567
'This book provides not only a reservoir of information on the reality of human induced climate change, but raises vital questions and examines viable options on what can be done to meet the challenge. In the introduction itself Bjorn Lomborg catalogues the impacts of climate change, highlighting the problem of sea level rise, pressure on water resources, and declining food production in some countries, 'possibly becoming a source of societal conflict'. It allows different authors to articulate their views on a range of solutions, and then leaves the book's readers to form their own conclusions on what might be the best set of actions to adopt. Even though its pages present a diversity of options, at the end the average reader would stand better informed, and would have formed his or her own compelling logic on the answer to this planet's problem of climate change. I would recommend this book as much for the fact that Lomborg supports the view that we have 'long moved on from any mainstream disagreements about the science of climate change', as for the rich diversity of analysis it presents on a range of possible solutions.' Rajenda K. Pachauri, Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Climate change, water security and developing countries

Water security and climate change: Facts and figures

Water insecurity and scarcity already affect large parts of the developing world. The past century has seen a sixfold increase in global water demand. Climate change will affect the water security of developing countries. Hydrologist Lucinda Mileham explores their priorities as they struggle to cope.

NWF & SWCS Carbon Workshop Conclusions

Carbon Workshop Proceedings and Presentations Available

Carbon sequestration through agriculture could provide farmers and forest owners with a new revenue stream worth billions of dollars, concluded presenters, panelists and attendees at a National Wildlife Federation and the Soil and Water Conservation Society workshop held in July. Read more conclusions in the workshop proceedings, abstracts, and presentations. Click here... 

SWCS Sustainable Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels Workshop

SWCS Sustainable Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels Workshop

The SWCS "Biofuels Roadmap" Workshop will be held September 28-30, 2010, in Atlanta, GA. Workshop for developing regional roadmaps for sustainable feedstock production and delivery.  Registration ($195) open thru Sept 12. www.swcs.org/roadmap

Soil and Water Conservation Society Members Join Feds, Farmers and Friends in Food Drive to Feed Families

Source: Soil and Water Conservation Society Members Join Feds, Farmers and Friends in Food Drive to Feed Families

By USDA Blogger, 08/04/2010

By Dick Tremain, NRCS Iowa

There’s a little less hunger in St. Louis this summer, thanks to convention-going soil conservationists and scientists. When members of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS)preparing for their annual international conference heard about the national Feds, Farmers and Friends Feed Families (F5) food drive, they decided to help by bringing food to the St. Louis convention, where it was collected and weighed.

“We collected 250 pounds of food and donated it to the St. Patrick Center of St. Louis, which is the largest provider of homeless services in Missouri,” said Jim Gulliford, SWCS executive director. “When you consider that much of the donated food was packed in luggage and went through airport security, this is a great effort. I’m proud of our members and the success of our food drive.” SWCS is a professional society dedicated to promoting the science and art of natural resource conservation.

Gulliford credits Bonnie Allely, an exhibitor at this year’s SWCS conference, with the idea of having the organization participate. Allely is the Earth Team national volunteer liaison with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). “When Bonnie contacted us about participating in the NRCS F5 food drive, we jumped at the chance. We asked the 615 people attending our conference to ‘pack for two, bring food, and help “starve” hunger in St. Louis,’” Guilliford said. Allely’s Earth Team exhibit served as the food donation collection point.

Feds, Farmers and Friends Feed Families is a national program that contributes foods to communities across the country. Allely says she handed convention attendees fliers promoting the F5 partnership. “I’m hoping this hunger-fighting effort continues when the conference-goers return home,” she said. “This is a great program.”

Want to help? Between now and August 31, 2010, NRCS, Farm Service Agency and Rural Development field offices across the country are collecting non-perishable food items that will be delivered to local area food banks. Click here to find a nearby service center.

Bonnie Allely, NRCS Earth Team national volunteer liaison, and Jim Gulliford, SWCS executive director, collected more than 250 pounds of food from SWCS conference attendees to fight hunger in St. Louis through the Feds, Farmers and Friends Feed Families food drive. Photo courtesy of SWCS.

International Conservation News

UNEP/GPA ORGANIZES FIRST WASTEWATER TASKFORCE MEETING

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA) organized the inaugural meeting of the UN-Water Taskforce on Wastewater at the offices of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on 9 June 2010. The meeting brought together over 30 representatives from 23 organizations and was followed by a Multi-Stakeholder Partnership meeting, from 10-11 June 2010. The meetings used the six recommendations of the “Sick Water?” report (launched on World Water Day, 22 March 2010) as the starting point for their discussions.

Participants addressed the possible elements of the Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Agenda on Wastewater, which will be a major product of the Taskforce. They identified the major causes of the wastewater challenge, namely: weak national policies/standards and limited capacity at the municipal level; and community perceptions/attitudes towards the re-use of wastewater. Meeting participants also recommended a number of immediate and longer-term actions that will contribute to the Collaborative Agenda and directly tackle the wastewater challenge, including: enhancing communication, capacity building and science; developing interaction with the climate change and food security agendas; carrying out field projects and twinning; exploring wastewater financing approaches; and documenting the economic valuation of ecosystem services affected by wastewater (IISD RS sources).

MEA BULLETIN - Issue Nº 97 Thursday, 29 July 2010 Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Related Links:

World Water Week : | Stockholm, 5 - 11 September 2010
Joint workshop on Capacity Development for Farm Management Strategies to Improve Crop-Water Productivity using AquaCrop
World Water Development Report (WWDR)
Climate Change Adaptation: The Pivotal Role of Water
UN-Water Task Force on Transboundary Waters  http://www.unwater.org/TFtrans.html
Transboundary Waters: Sharing Benefits, Sharing Responsibilities

SWCS Sustainable Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels Workshop

Workshop Summary

SWCS is hosting a special workshop for the development of regional specific roadmaps for sustainable feedstock production and delivery. A key point established by the organizing committee is that this workshop will differentiate itself from the myriad of other biofuels conferences and workshops by having a very focused, outcome-based goal of producing these regional specific roadmaps.

A complete agenda, speakers, lodging, and more information is online at: www.swcs.org/roadmap

Opportunity to participate: The Call for Posters, Abstracts, and Technology Demonstrations (Interactive Decision Support Tools) is on the conference website.

Deadline for poster abstracts: Monday, August 2, 2010

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Workshop Dates

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 8:00 AM -

Thursday, September 30, 2010 12:00 PM

Where

Embassy Suites - Centennial Olympic Park

267 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA 30313

Registration Fees

Register: $195.00 for a limited time ($245.00 on site)

Register and Join SWCS: $275.00 for a limited time ($325.00 on site)

Student (Full Time) - includes 12-mo. SWCS Student Membership: $195.00

SWCS International Annual Conference - St. Louis

2010 SWCS Annual Conference
July 18-21, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri

Early-bird rates end June 2!! 

Registration fees for admission, tours, tickets to the Ballgame or anniversary dinner, regional lunches, etc. all increase beginning on June 3, so please register soon. Handy links below:

• Register Online Members: $350; Non-Members: $460; Register and Join SWCS: $430; Students: $99

• Already Registered?  Click here to add extra tickets, workshops,etc.

• Make hotel reservations at the Hilton  (SWCS Block rate is Federal Per Diem -$110/night) Room Block expires June 16. 

• See who is already registered.

Speaker information, tour and workshop descriptions and much more is online at: www.swcs.org/10AC

2010 SWCS International Annual Conference

Preliminary Program Released!
Online Registration Open!!

Join your colleagues in St. Louis for the 65th annual international conference of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. The conference, held July 18-21, includes workshops, concurrent sessions, symposia, posters, plenary sessions, and technical tours designed to raise the awareness of conference participants to recent developments in the science and art of natural resource conservation and environmental management. The 2010 conference will take place at the Hilton at the Ballpark in downtown St. Louis.

Detailed information at: www.swcs.org/10ac