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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;display:none"> </span></p><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" style="width:6.25in"><tr><td style="padding:.9pt .9pt .9pt .9pt"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">If you're having trouble viewing this email, you may <a href="https://nacdnet.z2systems.com/track/servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=nacdnet&emailId=186188887d91b7e915d7406c965ae01a1m8822974186&secureId=uw9YI4AY%2BruKtRvesDKJ7w%3D%3D&linkId=40023&targetUrl=http://nacdnet.z2systems.com/np/clients/nacdnet/viewOnlineEmail.jsp?emailId=186188887d91b7e915d7406c965ae01a1m8822974186" target="_blank">see it online</a></span></p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" style="padding:.9pt .9pt .9pt .9pt"><p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><img border="0" width="200" height="148" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://nacdnet.z2systems.com/neon/resource/nacdnet/images/NACD%20blue%20logo%20transparent(3).png"> </span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><img border="0" width="200" height="63" id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://nacdnet.z2systems.com/neon/resource/nacdnet/images/p2.png"></span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">CONTACT:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> Sara Kangas, NACD Director of Communications<br>(202) 547-6223; <a href="http://mailto:sara-kangas@nacdnet.org">sara-kangas@nacdnet.org</a></span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">CONTACT: </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Kelly Rourke, Pollinator Partnership Director of Programs and Operations<br>(415) 362-1137; <a href="http://mailto:kr@pollinator.org">kr@pollinator.org</a></span></p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" style="padding:.9pt .9pt .9pt .9pt"><p style="margin-bottom:20.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><br></span><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:20.0pt"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Apr. 8, 2019</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom:8.65pt;text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:26.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#09589a;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1.0pt;background:white">NACD AWARDED GRANT TO FURTHER POLLINATOR CONSERVATION EDUCATION</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">WASHINGTON</span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> – Today, the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) announced it was selected as the recipient of the David Rockefeller Fund Pollinator Education Initiative Grant through an agreement with the Pollinator Partnership.</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">NACD’s project was selected in late February to facilitate the development of a guide to conduct a pollinator conservation field day. Through this agreement, NACD will also develop online resources for students to further learn about and be tested on pollinator conservation, as well as lesson plans and materials for teachers to engage students in hands-on, habitat-focused outdoor activities.</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">“Conservation districts have a unique role in educating their communities, regularly emphasizing the significance of our hard-working pollinators,” <b>NACD President Tim Palmer said.</b> “Expanding pollinator-related conservation education will further strengthen on-the-ground work to enhance our country’s natural resources.”</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Through the agreement, NACD will develop outdoor learning experiences for students in grades K-8, designed to encompass urban, suburban and rural schools and learning spaces. Pollinator-themed outdoor activities will bring students in contact with local natural resource professionals to learn about the sustainability of natural resources and pollinator habitat.</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">“It’s crucial that we educate students about the pollinators in their communities and the critical role they play,” <b>Pollinator Partnership President Laurie Davies Adams said.</b> “Through this project, NACD will work to get our next generations outside and learning about the bees, butterflies and other pollinator species in their backyards.”</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" style="padding:.9pt .9pt .9pt .9pt"><div align="center"><table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in"><p align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">###</span></i></p><p align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">About the National Association of Conservation Districts:</span></i></b></p><p align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The National Association of Conservation Districts is the nonprofit organization that represents the nation's 3,000 conservation districts, their state and territory associations and the 17,000 men and women who serve on their governing boards. For more than 70 years, local conservation districts have worked with cooperating landowners and managers of private working lands to help them plan and apply effective conservation practices. For more information about NACD, visit: </span></i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://nacdnet.z2systems.com/track/servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=nacdnet&emailId=be6b2fb18ed0d3f42c2777e426c6a14ebm9903611be6&secureId=HUPCVNDERKusvRxUviHPHg%3D%3D&linkId=12021&targetUrl=http://www.nacdnet.org/"><i>www.nacdnet.org</i></a><i>.</i></span></p><p align="center" style="text-align:center"><strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">About Pollinator Partnership:</span></strong></p><p align="center" style="text-align:center"><em><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white"><a href="https://nacdnet.z2systems.com/track/servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=nacdnet&emailId=186188887d91b7e915d7406c965ae01a1m8822974186&secureId=uw9YI4AY%2BruKtRvesDKJ7w%3D%3D&linkId=40024&targetUrl=https://pollinator.org/">Pollinator Partnership</a> is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and the largest in the world dedicated exclusively to the protection and promotion of pollinators and their ecosystems. The Pollinator Partnership's mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research. Signature initiatives include the NAPPC (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign), S.H.A.R.E., National Pollinator Week, and the Ecoregional Planting Guides.</span></em></p></td></tr></table></div><p align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:.9pt .9pt .9pt .9pt"></td></tr></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><img border="0" width="1" height="1" id="_x0000_i1027" src="http://nacdnet.z2systems.com/track/servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=nacdnet&emailId=186188887d91b7e915d7406c965ae01a1m8822974186&targetUrl=http://nacdnet.z2systems.com/np/images/s.gif"></span></p></div></body></html>