CONFERENCE DATES
Day 1: August 25th, 2025
Day 2: August 26th, 2025

LOCATION
The Gateway Hotel and Conference Center
2100 Green Hills Drive Ames, IA 50014

RESERVE HOTEL OPTIONS

Reminder IDALS will cover the cost of hotel accommodation and scheduled meals for commissioners and assistant commissioners. Rooms can be reserved after completing online registration (above), or by clicking here:

Hotel Reservations

 

Schedule is tentative

Sunday, August 24, 2025

3:00 PM Registration Table Opens

5:00 pm CDI Board Meeting

Monday, August 25, 2025

6:30 am Registration and Credentials Tables Open

Exhibits Open – Silent Auction Items Accepted

8:45 am Registration Closes

9:00 am

Welcome

• Jeri Thornsberry, President, Conservation Districts of Iowa
• Chair, State Soil Conservation and Water Quality Committee
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig – Welcome

9:20 am Commissioners’ Annual Business Meeting

12:00 pm Lunch and Awards Presentation

1:00 pm Farm Bill Update – Ryan Britt, NACD Legislative Committee Chair

1:30 pm What’s New With Climate Trends – Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist of Iowa

2:15 pm Ice Cream Social served by CDI Board, NRCS, IDALS – Break and Exhibits

2:45 pm Conservation Discussion and Presentations

1. TBD

2. TBD

3. TBD

4. What’s on Commissioners’ Minds? Questions from commissioners—Open Discussion

4:30 pm Social Hour, Exhibits

5: 30 pm Awards Banquet

Announcements

• 2024 State Poster Contest Winners
• Envirothon State Winner

Award Presentations

• CDI Scholarship Recipient
• Spencer Award Recipient
• Leopold Conservation Award Finalists Announcement

Honoring Past Presidents

• Ramona Nitz, CDI Immediate Past President

Key Note Address

• TBD

Closing

Note

• Silent Auction closes at the end of evening

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

7:00 am Breakfast Buffet

Each district will gather at tables assigned by regions for open discussion with fellow commissioners

7:45 am Visit Exhibits

8:30 am

Pledge of Allegiance

• Jeri Thornsberry – Welcome

Announcements

8:40 am

Partner Updates and Presentations

• FSA
• IDNR
• NRCS
• IDALS

9:30 am

Break – visit exhibitors

10:00 am

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

(Choose Track #1 or Track #2)

Track #1 (10:00 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.)

TBD

Track #2 Breakout Sessions

Session A (10:00 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.)

TBD

 

12:00 pm Lunch and District Awards

1:15 pm Annual Conference Wrap-up

The annual conference is right around the corner and you don’t want to miss it.