2025 Locally Led Conservation Community Engagement
Locally Led Conservation consists of a series of phases that involve community stakeholders in natural resource planning, implementation of solutions, and evaluation of results. Locally Led Conservation begins with the community itself, working through the local Conservation District. It is based on the principle that community stakeholders are best suited to deal with local resource problems.
We conducted a suvery about the conservation needs and priorites with 100 respondants. You can view the summary of the survery results.
Orleans County Locally Led Conservation Resource Survey Results Report 2025.pdfOn Monday February 10th, 2025 we hosted, at the Irasburg Town Hall, two community meetings with a meal, short presentations on the status of Lake Memphremagog and Lake Champlain Water Quality, forests and agriculture and discuss your natural resource priorities, needs, gaps in services and brainstorm future solutions.
Why Participate in the Locally Led process?
1. Influence Change: Your insights will directly impact NRCS funding amounts available in Orleans County.
2. Connect & Collaborate: Network with like-minded individuals: interested landowners, farmers, foresters, consultants and other experts in the field.
3. Be Heard: Your opinions will shape local, state and federal natural resource planning decisions that matter.
These public meetings in combination with responses to our survey result in a regionally focused Conservation Action Plan and directly inform the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Local Working Group Process for Orleans County.
On 10:30-1:30 Wednesday Febuary 19th 2025 we hosted a Local Workgroup Partners Meeting with 17 participants from 11 organizations. WHAT A GREAT LOCAL WORKGROUP MEETING! We are so lucky in Orleans to have so many smart, committed and caring natural resource services staff!
Our work together yesterday focused on:
1. Sharing the results of the Orleans County Natural Resource Assessment, Survey and Community Meetings Results.
2. Small group work on the top issues identified in the assessment, survey and community meetings.
---Sustaining Local Farming While Protecting Natural Resources
---Streams and Rivers Water Quality & Pollution
---Climate Instability & Weather Challenges
---Invasive Species
OCNRCD and NRCS used the small group work results along with our survery, and communtiy meeting results to develop our conservation action plan to use for NRCS local fund pool proposal.
3. Increased partners awareness of the NRCS locally led responsibilities and opportunities, NRCS practices and NRCS processes.
Please check out these resources to learn more the work of our meeting.
Local Work Group Partners Meeting Agenda.docx.pdfOrleans County NRCD locally led - Partners Meeting Presentation.pdfNRCS Orleans LWG Partners Meeting Presentation.pdfLWG Small Group Worksheet - Working on Community Natural Resource Priorities FY26.pdfLWG Partner Small Group Worksheet - Summaries.docxLWG Partner Small Group NRCS Process - Summaries.docx______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
For additional information contact us 802-624-7008 or at sarah.damsell@orleanscountynrcd.org
This Orleans County Locally Led process outcomes have informed local, state and federal priorities and led to $600k of federal NRCS funds being available to Orleans County land stewards to meet their conservation goals and identified county wide priorities.
