NRCS Conservation Practices and Materials
USDA Announces Historic Investment in Wildlife Conservation, Expands Contact: Partnership to Include Additional Programs
$500 Million from Farm Bill Is Part of Broader Commitment from FSA and NRCS to Working Lands Conservation that Benefits Wildlife and Supports Agriculture and Rural Communities
Tennessee River Basin Network News-Issue 42-June 2023
A Tennessee River Basin where aquatic and human life thrives.
USDA Doubling Down on Growth of NRCS Working Lands For Wildlife!
Most of America’s biodiversity, sensitive species, landscape connectivity, and natural carbon storage opportunity depend heavily on private working lands, where we can partner with great land stewards to achieve shared conservation goals - while helping avoid regulatory outcomes.
Sagebrush Biome Framework
This framework for 2021-2025 reflects collaborative, multi-state planning efforts to update SGI 2.0, and continues to build from a decade of success conserving the sagebrush biome. This framework also serves as NRCS’ ongoing contribution to the Sagebrush Conservation Strategy administered by Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Sharing common cross-boundary threats, NRCS staff across eleven western states collaborated to create this shared vision for conservation action.
USEC Bonnie Keynote for the Corridors, Connectivity and Crossings Conference
Under Secretary Robert Bonnie, Farm Production and Conservation, USDA
NRCS Staff Support the Hellbender WLFW Program by Learning About Natural Design Principles
NRCS staff from four states met in Western NC to tour stream restoration projects for hellbenders and get a close up look at best practices.
WLFW Pollinator Conservation Webinar Series: Session #3 Bumble Bees in the Southeast
Session 3 of WLFW Pollinator Conservation Webinar series, presented by Celia Vuocolo, WLFW Pollinator Coordinator-East with Quail Forever & USDA-NRCS. This session focuses on Bumble Bees in the Southeast, and will be the first of three sessions on “pollinator species of conservation concern” in the series. Topics covered include bumble bee life history, conservation threats & status, species found in the southeast, management considerations and plants for supporting bumble bees.
WLFW Pollinator Conservation Webinar Series: Session #2 Who are the Southeast Region’s Pollinators?
Session 2 of WLFW Pollinator Conservation Webinar series, presented by Celia Vuocolo, WLFW Pollinator Coordinator-East with Quail Forever & USDA-NRCS. In the second session of the series, topics covered include an overview of pollinator communities in the Southeast, six native been families in the US, other major pollinator groups and some fundamental planning considerations and recommendations.
NRCS Grant Jump-starts Relay Intercropping Study
A recent announcement by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack of grant money being given to Iowa Learning Farms will help illustrate how intercropping could benefit Iowa farmers.
To Restore Hellbender Habitat, a Biologist Visits the Farmers' Market
When working to restore wildlife habitat on agricultural lands, outreach to producers can be challenging. Private Lands Biologist Mike Knoerr figured out a way to make it much more efficient.
WLFW Pollinator Conservation Webinar Series: Session #1 Pollination Biology
Session 1 of WLFW Pollinator Conservation Webinar series, presented by Celia Vuocolo, WLFW Pollinator Coordinator-East with Quail Forever & USDA-NRCS. In this first session of the series, topics covered include threats to pollinators, plant pollination strategies, pollinator foraging behaviors, and a quick overview of bees of conservation concern.
Great Plains Grassland Biome Framework
In 2020, a multi-state, areawide planning initiative produced the first biome-scale framework for grassland wildlife conservation on the region’s sustainable working rangelands. This initiative features an action-based framework for 2021-2025 focused on addressing the two most severe and large-scale threats to the Great Plains biome: woodland expansion and land use conversion.
Group walking in woods
Indiana NRCS State Forester Daniel Shaver (left), David Ray and staff from Indiana NRCS check out the ongoing work being done at a private forest owned by Ray in Jackson County, IN during a visit May 24, 2022. NRCS photo by Brandon O’Connor
Golden winged warbler
Golden winged warbler in forest. Source: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/new-jersey/news/funding-available-for-north-jersey-forest
(R-L) Purple Skies Farm Owner Visar Duane shows NRCS District Conservationist Lynette Harmon heirloom tomatoes that she has grown on the farm
(R-L) Purple Skies Farm Owner Visar Duane shows NRCS District Conservationist Lynette Harmon heirloom tomatoes that she has grown on the farm. (NRCS photo by Brooke DeCubellis)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Redlands District Conservationist Tomas Aguilar-Campos and HdV Co-Founder and Executive Director Maria Alonso.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Redlands District Conservationist Tomas Aguilar-Campos and HdV Co-Founder and Executive Director Maria Alonso. (USDA Photo by Lance Cheung)
(L-R) Intern Maddie Baker and Purple Skies Farm Owner Visar Duane work together to pull weeds.
(L-R) Intern Maddie Baker and Purple Skies Farm Owner Visar Duane work together to pull weeds. (NRCS photo by Brooke DeCubellis)
Hispanic Couple with vegetables
A variety of fruits and vegetables are included in a typical Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce box from Huerta del Valle (HdV), this one held by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Redlands District Conservationist Tomas Aguilar-Campos, and prepared by HdV Co-Founder and Executive Director Maria Alonso at the 4-Acre organic Community Supported Garden and Farm in the middle of a low-income urban community, where they work closely with her as she continues to improve the farm operation in Ontario, California, on Nov. 13, 2018. - Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/51071040423/in/gallery-72814607@N02-72157721076517284/
2023 NRCS Initiative map small
Smaller version of the 2023 NRCS Initiative map
General Resources Thumbnail
Renfroe Farms, a family business with David, Don, Kevin Renfroe and Kim Renfroe-Johnson harvest corn, part of their operation that focuses on utilizing conservation practices developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to balance land stewardship and production in Carroll County, TN, on Sept 18, 2019.
