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This web site provides an automated way to achieve
the process that NRCS uses to assist clients (individuals,
groups, and units of government) in developing, implementing,
and evaluating conservation plans on agricultural lands,
urban areas, or other land uses.
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Conservation planning is a natural resource problem
solving a management process. The process integrates
economic, social (cultural resources are included with
social), and ecological considerations to meet private
and public needs. This approach, which emphasizes desired
future conditions, helps improve natural resource management,
minimize conflict, and address problems and opportunities.
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Conservation planning helps clients, conservationists,
and others view the environment as a living system of
which humans are an integral part. Conservation planning
enables clients and planners to analyze and work with
complex natural processes in definable and measurable
terms. The conservation planning process, as described
in this web site, consists of nine steps divided into
three phases.
Phase I - Collection and Analysis
- Identify Problems and Opportunities
- Determine Objectives
- Inventory Resources
- Analyze Resource Data
Phase II - Decision Support
- Formulate Alternatives
- Evaluate Alternatives
- Make Decision
Phase III - Application and Evaluation
- Implement the Plan
- Evaluate the Plan
Conservation planning is based on a desired future
condition that is developed by the client for an individual
conservation plan, or by the client and stakeholder,
in the case of an area wide conservation plan or assessment
encompassing a watershed or other defined area.
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