FAQs
What role does NRCS see Conservation Districts and other partners playing in the larger vision for Conservation Planning?
Partners need some more support in understanding that role.
A mission of NCPP is to work together on the reinvigoration of planning in the long-term (10-15 years). This is an agreement between ALL the conservation delivery partners. Lots of money and support is coming to conservation outside of NRCS. There are over 7000 District employees.
About 4000 of those employees are assisting in some way on conservation planning. NACD is trying to bolster the ability of conservation districts to assist on this planning. However, not all states have well-developed partnerships in conservation planning. To address that NRCS is making sure partners have access to trainings, like Boot Camp. We have updated national policy in the General Manual to make it clear that partners have the ability to participate in trainings. NRCS is encouraging states to share resources and work across partnerships to collaborate on trainings. Ultimately, the responsibility to make sure policy is implemented correctly lies with the State Conservationist who must provide leadership for how NRCS and partners can best work together to meet the conservation needs of the state.
Is NCPP not changing the way conservation plans are put together or the 9 steps of conservation planning? The intent is more so to allow planners more time and better tools to get through all 9 steps and deliver a greater product, right?
Exactly. In the discussions that I’ve had about this and talking with my peers and talking to the people at the Technical Centers you can really see that that is key to moving conservation forward, but we do need the support of our partners. It is a hand-in-hand approach that we need to do in trying to make sure that we’re addressing those resource concerns. Those 9 steps, again going back to Hugh Hammond Bennett, the Soil Erosion Service in our original days, and the Soil Conservation Service it’s such a tried and true approach and it’s made such a difference when we look at all the conservation plans and even the Farm Bill programs and the dollars we’ve it into it working together. America has made such huge steps forward and we’ve done such great things with our resources and I think we can continue to move forward, but we need to do it together because there is a shrinking resource base for us and our staff to be able to address it. So I think it’s right on target.
Are conservation plans simply designed to facilitate the contracting of program funding?
No. Conservation plans are written to address resource concerns. While financial assistance programs may be of value in addressing those concerns, they are not the sole intent of the planning process. In fact, conservation plans should be program neutral and based on technical assistance.
If spending program dollars is the highest organizational priority, how does a conservation plan not tied to a program become a priority?
The five NCPP partner organizations prioritize helping our customers implement conservation measures on private lands using science based approaches to conservation technical assistance and support those efforts through the administration of conservation programs. Conservation plans that are developed through the Conservation Technical Assistance Program (CTA) are a priority because the plans document the decisions the customer have made about how and when they will take steps to implement conservation on their land. The plan is a document that can help them make many different strategic decisions about their farm operation and if they should apply for financial assistance or easement programs.
Will anything be taken off planners’ plates until adequate staffing levels are reached?
The goal is to provide field staff the resources they need to adequately service their customers. The resources will include more intuitive planning tools to make the planning and program management processes more efficient; develop a coordinated program schedule that includes NRCS and FSA program deadlines that are scheduled to provide adequate time to implement programs; provide funding for agreements with conservation partners to develop the capacity to help NRCS field staff with conservation planning and technical assistance; encourage the use of program assistants to take on administrative tasks that would free up the conservation planners time to work on technical work. We cannot tell clients that we don’t have time for them. One of the main goals of NCPP is to increase the partnership capacity to provide high quality customer focused technical assistance to all customers.
Farmers may not know what a good conservation plan looks like; it is not program planning. How do we measure demand if it may be low because they do not know what is available to them?
The obligation of dollars is a pressure that has been put on our staff. But when putting plans together, we have to focus on quality. This is why NCPP began, to reinvigorate the planning process. We also want to provide a product the landowner will use to make decisions, but also use to make investment decisions.
