In this issue:

• Announcements
• Two-Minute Training
• Technical Training & Certification Program Updates
• Upcoming Training Events
• Learn on Your Own

Announcements

BWSR staff continue to react and adapt to the changes spurred by COVID-19. Adjustments include working within the Partnership to hold online trainings developed after classroom sessions were cancelled or postponed and reducing registrations for field sessions to minimize group sizes and allow for social distancing. Each of the Partners has their own policy outlining requirements for gatherings and interactions at work. As a member of the Technical Training and Certification Program Conservation Partnership, BWSR shares all training opportunities but, due to varying policies regarding group sizes and social distancing, some of these sessions may not be accessible to everyone. As a state agency, BWSR will follow Governor Walz’s Stay Safe Executive Order regarding group sizes for field and classroom trainings. We will communicate changes regarding session specific registration limits as they occur, and use waiting lists to track individuals who are interested in attending trainings where registration limits have been reached.

Two-Minute Training

Leadership: Lessons Learned from Geese   The terms collaborative leadership and peer-to-peer leadership are often used to describe successful leadership approaches. The reasons for shifting to this type of leadership are many. Included in these reasons are: 1) broader context and insight is needed, 2) work load and responsibility are shared with others to lessen the work load of one leadership, and 3) we are in an information age with data and information constantly evolving and changing and no one has the capacity to know everything!   What lessons can we learn from geese? Here are a couple:   FACT:  When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position. LESSON:  It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership, as with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skill, capabilities and unique arrangement of gifts, talents or resources.   FACT:  The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. LESSON:  We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the productivity is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.   So, keeping flying together on projects - and honking!!

Technical Training & Certification Program Updates

Recently, leadership from the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Minnesota Association of Conservation District Employees (MACDE), the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation District (MASWCD), and the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), as Conservation Partners in the Technical Training and Certification Program, issued a joint statement on Job Approval Authority. This joint statement reaffirms the Partnerships expectations for technical staff to pursue, obtain, and or maintain Job Approval Authority (JAA). The JAA statement goes on to describe the roles and expectations for managers, staff, and state leader to accomplish this

The Conservation Partnership of NRCS, SWCDs, and BWSR use the NRCS Job Approval Authority (JAA) credentialing system for planning, design and installation of standard conservation practices. This system ensures that local staff who provide technical services in Minnesota are qualified to plan, design, and implement conservation practices. JAA is gained through demonstrated competence and allows technical staff to work independently on projects that might otherwise require degrees, certifications, or other credentialing.

The JAA process is dynamic, yet cyclical. A good first step in this process is to identify and prioritize the local conservation needs: resource concerns (problems) and practices (treatments). This regularly occurs during Local Work Group, One Watershed One Plan, and other local planning meetings and discussions. The Individual Development Plan tool (IDP) was developed to help standardize the results from these meetings and assemble training needs on an Area and Statewide basis. The Partnership relies upon these training needs to address gaps in local knowledge and abilities and allow for an increase in the quality and quantity of local conservation delivery.   More information on JAA, IDPs and training opportunities can be found in the TTCP section on the BWSR website.

Upcoming Training Events

Minnesota Wetland Professional Certification Program

BWSR Training

Technical Training & Certification Program Events

Related Partner Training Opportunities

Learn on Your Own

We’ve also put together a searchable library of recorded modules, webinars, videos and other resources to help our staff and partners find professional development information on a variety of topics. You can visit BWSR's Online Learning page to find web-based technical training resources sorted by category.

New:

• Nutrient Management Module 1: Orientation to Minnesota's Nutrient Management Training Series
• Nutrient Management Module 2: Planning for Sensitive Features
• Tech Talk Replay: Nutrient Management Module 3: Using Spatial Layers for Sensitive Features
• Tech Talk Replay: Vegetative and CRP Stand Evaluation
• Tech Talk Replay: Pasture Condition Scoresheet

Program Contacts