USDA Funding for Knox, Lincoln, Kennebec & Waldo counties: How Should Money be Spent? Knox-Lincoln and Waldo Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field offices in Belfast will host an in-person meeting of the Knox-Waldo Local Working Groups (LWGs).

Taking into account local resource concerns, these Local Working Groups make recommendations to NRCS on how to spend USDA Farm Bill funds for conservation practices on private lands. This year’s meetings will be held on Dec 21st from 2:00 - 4:00pm at the Town of Searsmont. If you are an agricultural producer; forester, logger or private woodland owner; member of an environmental or watershed organization or land trust; knowledgeable in soil, water, plant, wetland or wildlife sciences; and/or are familiar with agricultural and natural resource concerns in Knox or Waldo counties, we invite you to attend this meeting to help 1) identify and prioritize local conservation concerns; and 2) recommend how local funds for USDA Environmental Quality Incentive Programs (EQIP) will be distributed by NRCS to alleviate problems. Meetings will be held online. To attend either of these meetings, please contact your local soil & water conservation district for the meeting link: Knox-Lincoln: Julie at 596-2040, julie@knox-lincoln.org; or Waldo: Medea, 207.218.5311, msteinman@maineconservationdistricts.com. If you are unable to attend, you may send comments to your local soil & water conservation district. FMI about LWGs, please visit https://www.knox-lincoln.org/local-working-group.