Carroll and Denison Community Gardens
 The purpose of this project is to conduct outreach to the growing Hispanic and other minority communities. Additionally, the project will focus on providing gardening opportunities to people that typically do not have access to adequate garden space.
This is also part of a larger effort to promote local food systems and the NRCS Beginning and Limited Resource Farmer programs. M&M Divide RC&D partnered with the County Extension Service, city government, and local municipalities to initiate this project. Funding sources include
NRCS, Wal-Mart, and Farmland, Inc., along with considerable in-kind from other entities. Due to the overwhelming support and success of this project, plans are underway to expand the gardens and seek out new opportunities.
Absentee Landowner Outreach
 M&M Divide RC&D, in partnership with A g r e n, Inc., successfully obtained an NRCS National Conservation Innovation Grant as well as another grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to pilot outreach projects in 6-8 states including Iowa. In an effort to expand this project, the M&M Divide RC&D recently received a three-year grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to pilot outreach projects to absentee landowners within three states in the Great Lakes region. We will be conducting outreach to absentee landowners for the purpose of increasing NRCS program participation. The focus will be on innovative outreach strategies, evaluating these strategies, developing and improving services, increasing producer participation in cost-share programs, and ultimately implementing conservation practices.
www.absenteelandowners.org
Coon Rapids-Iowa Great Places
M&M Divide RC&D has provided technical as well as grant administrative assistance to the Iowa Great Places Steering Committee. In 2006, M&M Divide RC&D was awarded a $50,000 grant from the USDA-Rural Development. As part of the overall Great Places planning, these funds will be used to conduct economic planning and community analysis in Coon Rapids and the surrounding area.
Best Management Practice Animation
M&M Divide RC&D entered into a partnership with NRCS to initiate Best Management Practices (BMP) Animation. This multi-year project will focus on developing innovative 3-D computer animations of agricultural best management practices. This technology will be used as a tool to promote the function and benefits to conservation practices to a wide range of audiences. The project has strong potential to become a national educational model for outreach and training for conservation practice education.
 The following file requires Windows Media
Player.
To view the current animations please click on the link below.
http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/partnerships/bmpanimations.html
Conservation Tillage (3:03)
Erosion
(3:43)
Community Assistance
 They has provided fundraising and marketing assistance to the Manilla Area Historical Association in an effort restore the Historic Klondike Railroad Hotel in Manilla, IA. The M&M Divide RC&D has also provided planning and grant administrative to the Community Market Steering Committee. The goal of this project is to open a regional food cooperative in Carroll that will offer another market to both producers and consumers in support of locally grown produce. In 2006, the RC&D also took lead role in coordinating and administering the Carroll Farmers Market and plans to continue providing this assistance for the 2007 season.
Coming Soon
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