Local Working Group

What is it and how can you Participate?

The combined Waldo - Knox Counties Local Working Group (LWG) will meet:

Date: Monday, December 4, 2023

Time: 1 – 4pm

Location: French Conference Room, Camden Town Office, 29 Elm St., French Room

The meeting will begin with an informational pre-session.  Personnel from the SWCDs, NRCS and the Farm Service Agency (FSA) will describe their agencies, programs available to county residents, and the process for accessing FSA/NRCS services. If you're unfamiliar with these services, and the purpose of LWG, you are highly encouraged to arrive at 1pm.  The formal LWG meeting will begin at 2pm and, if you choose not to participate in the funding allocation discussion, feel free to leave at that time.

If you would like to attend this meeting, please scroll down for more information and notify your local Soil & Water Conservation District office in order to be added to the notification list and receive important information prior to the meeting. If you are unable to attend, you may send comments to your district.

AGENDA: Click here to see the agenda for the upcoming meeting.

USDA Funding for Knox & Waldo counties: How Should Money be Spent?

Knox County and Waldo County Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field office in Belfast, will host an in-person meeting of the Knox-Waldo Local Working Group (LWG). Taking into account local resource concerns, Local Working Groups make recommendations to NRCS on how to spend USDA Farm Bill funds for conservation practices on private lands.

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.

FMI, and to see Minutes from previous LWG meetings, please visit https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/maine/local-working-groups.