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What is Resource
Conservation and Development?
Our
Vision and Mission
RC&D in Maryland and Delaware
NRCS /
Southern Maryland RC&D Staff
Southern
Maryland RC&D Board
The Resource Conservation
and Development program, typically shortened to RC&D, is a national
program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),
established by the Food and Agriculture Act of 1962 and reauthorized
in subsequent Farm Bills. RC&D provides a means for communities to
address their natural resource and quality of life concerns. Active in
every state and many of our territories, RC&D serves people at the
local level through the activities of its Councils. There are
currently 375 Councils serving 85% of U.S. counties. In Southern
Maryland RC&D’s case, the Council serves Anne Arundel, Calvert,
Charles and St. Mary’s Counties. In Maryland there are currently three
RC&D Councils serving 17 of our 23 counties. All three of Maryland’s
RC&D Councils are 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations, each governed by a
volunteer Board of Directors.
Each RC&D Council serves a specific geographic area through the
collaborative development and implementation of an area specific
strategic plan, or Area Plan. The Area Plan identifies the area’s
unique opportunities and challenges connected to land conservation,
land management, water management and community development. RC&D
Councils work closely with a broad array of local project partners to
develop and implement projects connected to their Area Plans. Project
partners are typically from within each Council’s area but Councils
may also cooperate with counties and project partners outside their
areas in order to ensure that natural resource and quality of life
concerns are fully addressed. Often Councils will cooperate with each
other to address statewide or regional concerns.
As a program of the USDA, RC&D is administered by the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). However, Councils often receive
technical resources from USDA’s other agencies, including Forest
Service, Rural Development, Extension Service and Farm Service Agency.
NRCS provides each RC&D Council with professional staff, office space,
office furnishings and equipment. The NRCS professional staff,
typically a RC&D Coordinator and often a Secretary, assists each
Council’s Board of Directors in identifying local needs and acquiring
the resources necessary to meet those needs. The RC&D Coordinator is
also an important liaison between a Council and the various Federal
agencies. Many Councils have become quite large, serving their areas
with Council supported administrative assistants, professional
watershed foresters, grant writers and project managers.
The national RC&D motto is “Making things happen!” There are currently
375 RC&D Councils serving over 180 million Americans. RC&D is making
things happen everyday all across our great nation.
For more information about the RC&D program, you can visit the NRCS
website and read the many publications available there. Visit
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Programs/rcd.
Fore more information about the National Association of RC&D Councils,
you can visit the NARCDC website at
http://www.rcdnet.org.
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OUR VISION
“People and the environment
in harmony in Southern Maryland.”
The Southern Maryland RC&D Board of
Directors believes that people and the environment can exist in harmony in
Southern Maryland. We see a future Southern Maryland where our agricultural
heritage is preserved and enhanced, our natural areas appreciated and our people
enriched. Our every project promotes this ideal vision, taking us one step
closer to people and the environment in harmony in Southern Maryland.
OUR MISSION
“Working in partnership with
community groups and organizations, Southern Maryland RC&D is dedicated to
improving the quality of life in the region by enabling the people and promoting
the wise use of our natural and economic resources.”
Southern Maryland RC&D is dedicated to improving the quality of life in our
four-county area. We believe that by working in partnership with our
communities, by transferring valuable project and partnership building skills to
our local partners, we can realize our idealized Southern Maryland. Our work is
broadly inclusive to ensure that our efforts are collaborative and our vision
shared. Through our considerable project work we are striving to:
Goal 1. Reduce soil erosion and improve water quality.
Goal 2. Improve and enhance the tourism potential of local historical
resources.
Goal 3. Develop and improve environmental education centers, programs and
resources.
Goal 4. Assist area communities with developing and improving local
facilities and infrastructure.
Goal 5. Increase the potential for income of Southern Maryland residents
by utilizing local natural resources in a sound environmentally safe manner.
Goal 6. Improve capacity of the Southern Maryland RC&D, its bard members
and associates.
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There are currently three
RC&D Councils serving Maryland and one RC&D Council serving Delaware.
For more information on Maryland Eastern Shore RC&D, Western Maryland
RC&D and Delaware’s First State RC&D, please visit their websites.
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Volunteering
If you are
interested in volunteering for one of our projects,
click
here for more information. |
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Donations
Southern
Maryland RC&D is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Any donation
made to support our work is tax deductible.
Click here for more
information.
PRINTABLE
DONATION FORM
Online
Donating coming soon! |
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