Check out our agenda below or follow this link. We hope you will join us in Reno.
Family Farm Alliance 2022 Annual Conference Begins in Less than Two Weeks!
There’s still time to register, if you haven’t already – and you may want to, after checking out the conference program below!
Conference highlights include:
Reclamation Roundtable
Featuring keynote remarks by Interior Department Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo, and Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton (via ZOOM), as well as interactive discussion with all five regional directors.
The Biden Water Leadership Team
A panel of appointed senior officials from EPA and the Departments of Agriculture, Army and Interior will discuss Western water challenges and issues.
A Look at D.C. From the Hill
Mark Limbaugh moderates this panel of Democrat and Republican staff from key congressional water committees.
Report from Glasgow
Hear from Alliance President Pat O’Toole and other leaders of Solutions from the Land who served as delegates at COP26 in Scotland.
The Western Water Infrastructure Coalition
Learn more about the “behind the scenes” effort that succeeded in achieving $8.3 billion for Western water infrastructure.
Colorado River
Learn how agricultural water interests from the Continental Divide to the Mexican border are helping decision-makers facing shortages due to drought and over-allocation.
Western Innovators
Case studies of voluntary efforts to conserve water and improve water quality.
Gearing up for the Biden Administration’s 30 x 30 Program
Perspectives of Western landowners, ranchers, conservationists and resource managers.
The Western Ag and Conservation Coalition
Diverse stakeholders prepare to engage on the 2023 Farm Bill and other endeavors.
Reservations for the Derby Dam Fish Screen Tour are quickly filling up! Sign up if you would like to participate in the Friday afternoon tour of this exciting project!
The Derby Dam Fish Screen is the result of two decades of concentrated efforts by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex and Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to restore connectivity for the threatened Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (LCT). The fish, once thought to be extinct, can now successfully move from Pyramid Lake, past Derby Dam, for spawning.
This project, at the site of one of the first ever Reclamation projects in the west, was constructed in just over one year. The screen is the largest horizontal fish screen in the nation and provides access to important upstream rearing and spawning habitat for threatened LCT for the first time since 1905. In addition, this project restores watershed connectivity as well as supports agriculture, fishing, and recreation in western Nevada. Participants will have the opportunity to see the fish screen in operation and up close, as well as meet with members of the Farmers Screen team.
February 25 Detailed Tour Schedule:
12:30 Depart Silver Legacy
1:15-1:30 Anticipated arrival at Derby Dam Fish Screen
1:30 Onsite Tour and overview of Derby Dam Fish Screen
2:30-2:45 Anticipated departure project site
3:30 Arrive at Silver Legacy
CLICK HERE for more information on the tour!
FULL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Family Farm Alliance Board of Directors and Advisory Committee Internal Meetings
Thursday, February 24, 2022
7:00 a.m. Registration Desk Open – Exhibition Center, Silver Legacy
8:00 to 8:15 a.m. Welcome / Opening Comments – Family Farm Alliance President Patrick O’Toole
8:15 to 8:30 a.m. Keynote Address – Tanya Trujillo, Interior Department Assistant Secretary for Water and Science
8:30 to 9:45 a.m. Reclamation Roundtable – featuring representatives from the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner’s office and all 5 regional directors – Commissioner Camille Touton (via ZOOM), David Palumbo (Deputy Commissioner), Jennifer Carrington (Columbia Basin-Pacific Northwest Region), Ernest Conant (California Great Basin Region), Brent Esplin (Missouri Basin – Arkansas – Rio Grande – Texas – Gulf Region), Jacklynn Gould (Lower Colorado Basin Region), Wayne Pullan (Upper Colorado Basin Region)
Moderated by Dan Keppen (Family Farm Alliance Executive Director)
9:45 to 10:00 a.m. Break
10:00 to 11:10 a.m. The Report from Glasgow – The Farmers’ Perspective of the COP26 Climate Forum – AG Kawamura (Co-Chair, Solutions from the Land), Patrick O’Toole (Family Farm Alliance President and SfL Board Member), Lois Wright Morten (SfL Board Member – via ZOOM), Fred Yoder (SfL Co-Chair- via ZOOM)
Moderated by Ernie Shea (SfL President)
11:10 to noon Western Water Innovators – Case Studies of Voluntary Efforts to Conserve Water and Improve Water Quality – Mark Deutschman (International Water Institute), Malcolm McGeary (Director of Natural Resources, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden), Julie O’Shea (Executive Director, Farmers Conservation Alliance)
Moderated by Joe Whitworth (President, The Freshwater Trust)
Noon to 1:15 p.m. Luncheon featuring Keynote Speaker – Robert Bonnie (USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Programs – via ZOOM)
1:15 to 2:00 p.m. A Look at D.C. from the Hill – Brian Clifford (Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – via ZOOM ), Kiel Weaver (House Natural Resources Committee), Matt Muirragui (House Natural Resources Committee – via ZOOM)
Moderated by Mark Limbaugh (The Ferguson Group)
2:00 to 3:15 p.m. The Western Water Infrastructure Coalition – The “Behind the Scenes” Story of the Initiative That Brought $8.3 Billion for Western Water – Erin Huston (Federal Policy Consultant, California Farm Bureau), David Reynolds (Director of Federal Relations, Association of California Water Agencies), Ian Lyle (Executive Vice-President, National Water Resources Association), Dennis Nuxoll (Vice-President of Federal Government Affairs, Western Growers)
Moderated by Lane Dickson (Family Farm Alliance / The Ferguson Group
3:15 to 3:30 p.m. Break
3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Gearing up for the Biden Administration’s 30 x 30 Initiative – Ron Alvarado (State Conservationist for Oregon, Natural Resources Conservation Service), JJ Goicoechea (Public Land Council), Eric Holst (Associate Vice President, Working Lands Program, Environmental Defense Fund), and Tom Page (Big Creek Ranch, Idaho)
Moderated by Zach Bodane (Executive Director, Western Landowners Alliance)
4:45 to 5:00 p.m. Exhibitors’ Presentations (5 minutes each)
5:00 to 5:15 p.m. 2022 Annual Meeting
5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Evening Reception – Novi – a private night club located on the Mezzanine level of the Eldorado Resort, adjacent to the Silver Legacy. Drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Friday, February 25, 2022
7:00 a.m. Registration Desk Open – Exhibition Center, Silver Legacy
8:00 – 9:15 a.m. The Biden Administration Water Leadership Team –Mike Connor (Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works – via ZOOM), Tanya Trujillo (Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior – via ZOOM), Navis Bermudez (Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, Environmental Protection Agency – via ZOOM), Gloria Montano Greene, Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Production, U.S. Department of Agriculture – via ZOOM)
Moderated by Rob Manning (Chief of Public Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation)
9:15 to 9:30 a.m. Break
9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Preparing for the 2026 Colorado River Operating Guidelines – The Perspective of Agricultural Interests – Travis Greenwalt (Principal and Senior Economist, Highland Economics), Elston Grubaugh (General Manager, Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District via ZOOM), Patrick O’Toole (Ladder Ranch, Wyoming), Andy Mueller (General Manager, Colorado River District), and Tina Shields (Water Department Manager, Imperial Irrigation District)
Moderated by J.B. Hamby (Colorado River Commission of California)
10:45 to 11:55 a.m. The Western Agriculture and Conservation Coalition – Irrigators Team Up with Conservationists to Tackle Pressing Policy Challenges
A panel discussion between national agriculture and conservation NGO representatives, including Kaitlynn Glover (Executive Director, Public Lands Council), Dan Keppen (Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance), Ben Thomas (Senior Policy Director for Agriculture, Environmental Defense Fund), Tim Wiginton (Vice President, Finance and Policy, The Freshwater Trust – via ZOOM) and Laura Ziemer (Senior Counsel and Water Policy Advisor, Trout Unlimited)
Moderated by Jeff Eisenberg (Rockspring Resource Consultants).
11:55 a.m. Award Presentation and Closing Comments – Alliance President Patrick O’Toole.
Noon Adjourn General Session
12:30 – 3:30 p.m. DERBY DAM FISH SCREEN on the Truckee River – Tour bus departs from the Silver Legacy valet at 12:30 p.m. Box lunches will be provided on the tour bus.
