The National Association of Conservation Districts is entering the annual policy development phase as they continue to prepare for the NACD Annual Meeting, scheduled for February 6-10, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
That meeting is being planned as an in-person event but if it is moved to a virtual format, the NACD Board will still work through the policy development process.
Sunsetting policies: by October 23
NACD reviews policies periodically and automatically sunsets them unless a policy is challenged by an NACD Board member. WACD’s representative to the WACD Board is Doug Rushton, WACD National Director. This year, there are 248 sunsetting policies in the NACD 2020 Policy Book. Washington State conservation districts may request a copy of the NACD Policy Book from WACD Executive Director Tom Salzer. Conservation district supervisors and staff should submit requests to not sunset specific policies directly to Doug by October 23, 2020.
Bylaw amendments: by December 4
Under the NACD Bylaws, the NACD Board of Directors, region boards, the executive board, and state associations of conservation districts may submit proposed bylaw amendments for consideration by the Board at the next full Board Meeting. Proposed amendments must include the date or time at which the amendment would become effective if adopted. Washington State conservation districts may request a copy of the NACD bylaws from Tom. Please send any proposed amendments to Doug by December 4, 2020.
Resolutions: by December 11
The NACD Bylaws also provide that state associations, region boards, national foundation committees, and the executive board may propose new resolutions to be considered by the full board at an Annual Meeting. Making sure that our resolutions adopted at the WACD 2020 Annual Conference are not duplicative and are in the correct format are important in this process. To avoid duplication, we ask that you check the NACD policy book before proposing your resolution at the WACD Annual Conference. Once your resolution is adopted by a vote of WACD members, please help Doug make sure that your conservation district’s intent is properly captured when he puts it into the correct format for NACD. The deadline for conforming your resolution to NACD standards is December 11, 2020.
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NACD provides a helpful policy development guide to help their members better understand the process they follow.