The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) of Knox-Lincoln, Waldo, and Kennebec counties will be hosting meetings of the Local Work Groups. Knox/Waldo meeting is on Wednesday, March 25 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Searsmont Town Office, 37 Main St. S, Searsmont. Lincoln/Kennebec meeting is on Wednesday, April 22 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Augusta USDA Service Center, 21 Enterprise Drive, Augusta.

The Local Work Group is made up of key people from Knox-Lincoln, Waldo, and Kennebec county natural resource agencies along with local producers, conservation groups, and individuals. The meeting is open to the public with opinions and input encouraged.

The Local Work Group is responsible for providing NRCS with feedback to assist with setting local natural resource priorities for 2016 grant money through the Federal Farm Bill. Those priorities are used to establish USDA funding under the NRCS programs. Topics to be discussed include: establishing local ranking questions and points for selecting individual contracts for funding in 2016; the creation of local funding pools for targeted funding; establishing funding allocation percentages for resource categories; and reviewing the Knox-Lincoln, Waldo and Kennebec Natural Resource Assessments to begin targeting priorities for funding rounds in 2017.

Please contact or Hildy Ellis, 596-2040, hildy@knox-lincoln.org; Kym Sanderson, 338-1964 x4, kym.sanderson@me.nacdnet.net; or Dale Finseth, 622-7847 x3, dfinseth@kcswcd.org for additional information or if you require assistance to attend either meeting.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.