Natural Resources Conservation Service

United States Department of Agriculture

Strategic and Performance

Planning Division

Natural Resources

Conservation Service

Accomplishments Report

FY 2003

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership

in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and

improve our natural resources and environment.
Conservation Leadership

Conservation of private land depends

on the efforts of many individuals,

groups, and governmental entities

working together on common goals.

Local leadership and local action—

neighbors working together—form

the foundation for effective land stewardship. The Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS) supports local, State, and national conservation goals through working partnerships with State conservation

agencies, local conservation districts,

resource conservation and development councils, tribal governments,

and community groups. 

NRCS employees provide information and technical assistance to private landowners and land users.

Because natural resource issues are

best addressed on a watershed scale,

NRCS also helps community leaders

make sound natural resource decisions that protect the local environment and improve their standard of

living and quality of life.

What We Achieved

The Nation’s conservation efforts on

private land ensure a healthy and productive land that sustains food and

fiber production, protects watersheds

and natural systems, enhances the

environment, and improves urban

and rural landscapes.

To effectively achieve these benefits,

NRCS focuses on four strategic goals:

• Enhance the productive capacity

of soil and water resources to

enable a strong agricultural and

natural resource sector.

• Reduce unintended adverse

effects of natural resource development and use to ensure a highquality environment.

• Reduce risks from drought and

flooding to protect individual and

community health and safety.

• Deliver high-quality services to

the public to enable natural

resource stewardship.

Goal 1: Enhance the productive

capacity of soil and water resources.

NRCS helped land producers—

• Plan comprehensive resource management systems on 6.3 million

acres of cropland.

• Apply comprehensive resource

management systems on 6.7 million acres of cropland.

• Apply selected conservation practices on an additional 4.2 million

acres of cropland.

• Apply erosion control measures on

5.9 million acres of cultivated

cropland resulting in reducing soil

loss by 50.3 million tons.

• Plan comprehensive resource management systems on 11 million

acres of grazing land.

• Apply comprehensive resource

management systems on 11.9 million acres of grazing land.

• Apply selected conservation practices on an additional 7.9 million

acres of grazing land.

• Apply forest stand improvement

(weeding and thinning) on

374,000 acres. 

• Establish trees and shrubs on

403,000 acres.

CTA 48%

Farm Bill 

Financial

Assistance

31%

Farm Bill 

Technical 

Assistance

19%

RC&D

2%

Goals Goal 1 

Conservation goals are achieved through a portfolio of NRCS 

programs. The science-based assistance provided through 

Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) is the basis for all 

conservation efforts. Incentive-based programs authorized by the 

2002 Farm Bill are tools to accelerate application of conservation. 

Data reflect each program's percentage of the agency's total 

expenditures devoted to that particular strategic goal. 

Source: FY 2003 Budget and Performance Integration 

Data from NRCS FY 2005 Agency Estimate.
Goal 2: Reduce unintended adverse

effects of natural resource development and use.

NRCS helped land managers—

• Apply conservation buffers on

477,000 acres to protect water

quality and provide wildlife habitat.

• Create, restore, or enhance wetlands on 334,000 acres. 

• Apply wildlife habitat management

as a primary or secondary purpose

on 11.8 million acres.

• Develop 4,860 comprehensive

nutrient management plans and

apply 3,237 plans.

• Apply nutrient management on 5

million acres. 

• Apply pest management on 4.7

million acres. 

NRCS helped communities—

• Protect more than 112,000 acres

of productive farmland from 

conversion to nonagricultural uses

through the Farm and Ranch

Lands Protection Program.

• Apply erosion control measures on

85,000 acres of urban and built-up

land.

• Complete approximately 4,100

resource conservation and development projects that improve the

quality of life, including social,

economic, and environmental 

concerns.

Goal 3: Reduce risks from drought

and flooding.

NRCS helped local sponsors—

• Complete construction on 60

flood protection structures. 

• Prepare 16 watershed infrastructure rehabilitation plans and rehabilitate 12 flood prevention structures.

NRCS helped land managers—

• Apply conservation systems to

address flooding concerns on 5.1

million acres.

• Apply conservation systems to

address water supply concerns on 9

million acres. 

• Improve irrigation water management on 1.9 million acres and

conserve 5.8 million acre-inches of

water. 

• Manage limited Western water

supplies effectively. NRCS issued

11,427 water supply forecasts for

Federal, State, and local water

resource planning purposes. Water

users and managers requested

water supply data and information

1.56 million times. 

Goal 4: Deliver high quality 

services to the public.

NRCS employees—

• Provided assistance to 3,759,000

farmers, ranchers, and other customers.

• Provided assistance to a total of

305,000 female and minority customers.

• Mapped or updated 22.5 million

acres of soils.

• Provided 317 soil surveys in digital

format and revised 368 additional

surveys in digital format. 

• Released 20 new conservation

plants for commercial or private

use and evaluated 437 plant materials studies.

• Provided data to 1.4 million customers through the PLANTS database website.

• Distributed more than one million

publications from the NRCS

National Publication Distribution

Center/888-LANDCARE.

• Achieved an impressive year for the

Earth Team volunteer program

with more than one million hours

being donated and a 15 percent

increase in the number of volunteers.

CTA 16%

Farm Bill 

Financial

Assistance

57%

Farm Bill 

Technical 

Assistance

18%

RC&D

3%

Water

Resources

Programs

6%

CTA 39%

Farm Bill 

Financial

Assistance

28%

Farm Bill Technical

Assistance 9%

Snow Survey

2%

Water

Resources

Programs

22%

CTA 56%

Plant Materials

4%

Soil Survey

34%

Biomass

6%

Goal 2 Goal 3 Goal 4 
NRCS Programs and

Activities

The four Conservation Operations

programs (Conservation Technical

Assistance (CTA), Soil Survey, Snow

Survey and Water Supply Forecasting,

and Plant Materials) are the core support for all NRCS programs and

activities. CTA provides the infrastructure through which NRCS provides assistance to conservation districts, develops technical standards

and technical guides, conducts

resources inventories, and provides

assistance to individuals and communities to plan and manage their natural resources.

The Resource Conservation and

Development (RC&D) Program provides technical assistance to RC&D

councils to plan, develop, and carry

out projects that address land conservation, water management, community development, and land management.

NRCS water resources programs

focus on restoring the health of

watersheds through a comprehensive

planning approach. These programs

help communities protect their watersheds from damage caused by erosion,

floodwater, and sediment, and to conserve and develop water and land

resources. 

NRCS also is responsible for various

Farm Bill voluntary programs, including the Conservation Security

Program, Environmental Quality

Incentives Program, Farm and Ranch

Lands Protection Program, Grassland

Reserve Program, Wildlife Habitat

Incentives Program, and Wetlands

Reserve Program. These programs

provide technical, financial, and educational assistance to address single or

multiple natural resource concerns

identified at the local level. These

programs help participants plan and

apply conservation to their land.

More Information

Additional information on NRCS

programs and services can be found

on the Web at www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Specific information on NRCS’

Integrated Accountability System can

be found at

www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/spa/

accountabilityindex.html

Program and

Contract

Management

Application and

Maintennace

Planning

Assistance

Science and

Technology

Training Communication

and Relations

Management and

Supervision

Admin Support

Infrastructure

Activities

0

500

1000

1500

2000

3000

3500

Staff

Years

18%

25%

14%

10%

5%

7%

10%

2500

12%

Conservation

Operations 

69%

Farm Bill

Programs 

22%

Water

Resources

Programs 

5%

RC&D 4%

Source: NRCS Conservation Information System, Report 1.3

Staff Years by Program

Data reflect the percentage of total NRCS

staff years devoted to each major program

category.

Source: NRCS Conservation

Information System, Report 1.1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits 

discrimination in all its programs and activities on the

basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age,

disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital 

or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all 

programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information

(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s

TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director,

Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th

and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-

9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an

equal opportunity provider and employer.

Activities

The primary services provided by NRCS field office staffs are assistance in developing 

conservation plans and in applying and maintaining the conservation practices called for in

those plans. NRCS also is responsible for providing science-based resource data, technical

tools, and information needed for good stewardship. Data reflect the percentage of total

NRCS staff years devoted to each activity.