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Local Input – Shaping the Soil & Water Resources Conservation Act Appraisal

Local Input – Shaping the Soil & Water Resources Conservation Act Appraisal. National Association of Conservation Districts Annual Meeting Orlando, FL 2 February 2010. Patty Lawrence U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. RCA Background. Enacted in 1977

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Local Input – Shaping the Soil & Water Resources Conservation Act Appraisal

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  1. Local Input – Shaping the Soil & Water Resources Conservation Act Appraisal National Association of Conservation Districts Annual Meeting Orlando, FL 2 February 2010 Patty Lawrence U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service

  2. RCA Background • Enacted in 1977 • Strategic assessment and planning authority • Science-based policy decisions • Three major provisions • Public process • Conservation policy impacts

  3. 2008 Farm Bill • Extended RCA to 2018 • Aligned with farm bill cycle • Targeted changes • Conservation effects • Performance based standards • Environmental outcomes • Evaluation of process

  4. Public Outreach • National, regional, and local effort • Multiple approaches • Listening sessions • Focus groups • State Technical Committee survey • Comment analysis underway

  5. Listening Sessions • Five listening sessions • 700 participants, 150 speakers • Comments on: • Important natural resource concerns on private lands today and in the future. • Current conservation program approaches. • New conservation program approaches.

  6. What did we hear? • Natural resource concerns: • Water quality and quantity • Soil quality • Land fragmentation • Conservation program approaches: • Technical assistance • Outreach • Program simplification

  7. Focus Groups • Five focus groups • 70 participants and speakers • Comments on: • Barriers to participation • Needed approaches

  8. What did we hear? • Barriers • Program complexity • Economic (cost-share rates) • Reluctant to work with government • Land ownership/tenure • Needed approaches • Technical assistance • Program streamlining • Focused outreach • Bi-lingual assistance

  9. State Technical Committee Survey • 50 States and the Pacific Basin and Caribbean Areas • 3,400 surveys delivered • Nearly 900 respondents • Survey open for 3 months

  10. NRCS regions

  11. Natural Resource Concerns

  12. Natural Resource Concerns by Region

  13. Priority Resource Concerns

  14. Priority Resource Concerns by Region

  15. Priority Resource Concerns

  16. Barriers to Conservation Adoption

  17. Barriers to Conservation Adoption by Region

  18. Approaches to Increase Conservation Adoption

  19. Approaches to Increase Conservation Adoption by Region

  20. Your thoughts on new conservation approaches… • Consider: • 70+ years of technical and financial assistance • Declining Federal, State, and local resources • Climate change, biofuels, and other stressors • Trade • Low or ‘no’ cost approaches – what will it take to put “you” in a conservation plan? • Regulation? Needed or not?

  21. More information? U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Website: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/rca E-mail: RCA@wdc.usda.gov Phone: 202-720-3074 Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources and Environment ATTN: RCA 14th and Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20250

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