Conference Agenda

AACD Board of Directors’ Meeting

August 3, 2026

Note: August 3rd is for Conservation District Supervisors, Administrators, AACD Committee Members, and invited guests only. Thank you. Keep scrolling for the full conference agenda.

2:30 PM BOD Meeting Check-In Begins (board packet pickup)

3:00 PM AACD Committee Meetings

5:00 PM Dinner, Board of Directors Meeting, Elections

Arizona’s Conservation Districts’ Annual Conference

August 4-5, 2026

Note: This is a DRAFT conference agenda. All individuals and organizations listed below have been invited to participate. An asterisk (*) indicates confirmed attendance at the time of publication. Because many of our speakers manage dynamic professional schedules, we strive to remain flexible in order to provide attendees with the opportunity to hear from as many of these outstanding partners and subject matter experts as possible. Therefore, agenda timing and speaker placement may shift as we finalize schedules closer to the conference date, and the exact timing of individual speakers will be updated accordingly.

August 4th, 2026

7:00 AM

  • Registration Table Opens

  • Breakfast Buffet

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM  

  • State Natural Resource Conservation Board*

  • Emily Fife, ADAC WR, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service*

  • Keisha Tatem, State Conservationist, NRCS*

  • Stefanie Smallhouse, Executive Director, Natural Resource User Law & Policy Center, UA Cooperative Extension*

  • Sine Kerr, State Executive Director, Farm Services Agency

  • Erica Rohr, Program Manager, Department of War, Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program*

  • Panel Discussion with a representative from Make America Healthy Again* and others

  • Panel Discussion with Bio Armor Environmental* & Dirt Capital Partners

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM  

  • LUNCH – Keynote Speaker (US Forest Service) and Conservation Stewardship Awards

 1:30 – 5:00 PM

  • Sarah James, President, AZ Society for Range Management*

  • From a Producer’s Perspective: Dawn Salcito*

  • Salt River Project

  • Bureau of Land Management

  • Wildlife Panel Discussion with the AZ Game & Fish Department, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Antelope group

  • The Land at Home Project

 5:00-8:00 PM Casino Night!

  • Small plates, open bar, and Vegas-style games

 August 5th, 2026

7:00 AM         

  • Registration Table Opens

  • Continental Breakfast

8:00 -11:45 AM          

  • Public Lands Council*

  • Discussion Panel with Arizona State Legislative Representatives

  • Governor’s Office for Resiliency

  • B3 Strategies: Legislation + Districts

11:45 AM-1:00 PM    

  • Lunch & Conference Wrap Up with Outgoing and Incoming AACD Presidents

Conference Speakers

Speaker bios appear in alphabetical order by last name

  • Emily Fife

    Acting Deputy Assistant Chief, West Region
    USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

    Emily Fife serves as Acting Deputy Assistant Chief for the West Region of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. In this role, she provides leadership and support to state conservationists and partners across the West, helping states advance locally led conservation strategies that support agriculture and natural resources.

    Fife began her conservation career in 2004 with Soil and Water Conservation Districts and NRCS in Kentucky. Since then, she has held leadership roles across the country, including serving as Utah State Conservationist. Her work has focused on building strong partnerships, advancing landscape-level conservation, supporting water security, and helping producers address complex resource challenges through voluntary, locally driven solutions.

    Throughout her career, Fife has worked in Kentucky, New York, Oregon, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, and NRCS national headquarters. She brings a deep respect for local voices, diverse perspectives, and collaborative approaches that create lasting conservation outcomes for farmers, ranchers, communities, and natural resources.

  • Sine Kerr

    State Executive Director, Arizona
    USDA Farm Service Agency

    Sine Kerr serves as the Arizona State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency. In this role, she oversees the delivery of FSA programs that support Arizona agricultural producers, including farm, conservation, credit, and disaster assistance programs.

    Before joining USDA, Kerr served in the Arizona State Senate representing Legislative District 25. She chaired the Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee from 2019 to 2025 and served as Majority Whip during her final term. Her legislative work focused on issues related to water, agriculture, animal production, property rights, and natural resources.

    Kerr’s background is rooted in Arizona agriculture. She and her husband started a dairy farm and row crop operation in 1980, later transitioning to a cow-calf operation that sells beef directly to the public. The Kerr family also grows alfalfa, silage corn, bermuda, oats, rye, and sorghum.

    Throughout her career, Kerr has served in several agriculture and community leadership roles, including with the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, Maricopa County Farm Bureau, Arizona Farm Bureau, Maricopa County Air Quality Hearing Board, and the Healthy Arizona Initiative Food and Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee.

  • Erica Rohr

    Mission Sustainment Director, REPI Program
    Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment


    Erica Rohr serves as Mission Sustainment Director for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment. In this role, she supports REPI’s work to protect military readiness by helping reduce land-use conflicts near military installations, address environmental constraints that can affect training and operations, and strengthen installation resilience through partnerships with federal, state, local, and private organizations.

    Rohr brings more than 25 years of experience in land use planning, environmental compliance, and encroachment management. Before serving in her current role, she managed REPI efforts for both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island and a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

  • Keisha Tatem

    State Conservationist, Arizona
    USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

    Keisha Tatem serves as the Arizona State Conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, headquartered in Phoenix. In this role, she leads NRCS Arizona’s technical and administrative teams in helping farmers, ranchers, conservation districts, and partners address natural resource concerns through USDA conservation programs.

    Tatem began her NRCS career in 1995 as a soil conservationist student trainee and spent more than 10 years working directly with farmers and ranchers as a soil conservationist and district conservationist in Virginia and Florida. She has since held leadership roles in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and NRCS national headquarters, with experience in field operations, conservation policy, program delivery, and agency operations.

    Throughout her career, Tatem has contributed to national efforts focused on improving NRCS programs, workforce planning, and service delivery. Her leadership has been recognized through several honors, including the Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Leaders of the Valley, the Unsung Hero Award for Environmental Sustainability from the Governor’s Commission for African American Affairs, and AACD’s Good Hand Award in 2023.

    Tatem holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a concentration in plant and soil science from Virginia State University.