Local Working Groups (LWGs) are subcommittees of the State Technical Committee that advise the U.S. Department of Agriculture on local and state natural resource priorities. Members include representatives from conservation districts, natural resource agencies, agricultural and environmental organizations, and local officials.
LWGs work with community stakeholders and conservation district leaders to identify natural resource concerns, set priorities, gather data, and propose solutions.
Your Guide to Local Working Groups
LWGs play a vital role in shaping local conservation efforts. The following guide and toolbox were developed by the National Conservation Planning Partnership (NCPP) with input from field staff to provide practical tools, templates, and resources to support and advance the LWG process.
Resources and Templates
The Local Working Groups are a Sub-Committee of the State Technical Committee and exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). They include representation from the following:
- Conservation District Supervisors and Staff
- State Natural Resource Agencies
- Federal Natural Resource Agencies
- Agriculture Organizations – e.g. Wheat, Potatoes, etc.
- Fish & Wildlife Organizations – e.g. Pheasants, Ducks, Quail, Salmon, etc.
- Environmental Organizations – e.g. Audubon, Nature Conservancy, etc.
- State or local elected officials and/or staff
- Other state-specific natural resource related organizations
- NRCS designated conservationist
- FSA county executive director and/or County Committee Members
- Cooperative Extension
- Representatives of American Indian Governments
- Resource Conservation and Development Councils
Local Working Group’s Supporting Role In the Locally Led Process
The products of the locally led process will provide USDA and the Conservation District with relevant conservation needs, resource concerns, priorities, and recommendations regarding programs that can be used as tools to address those needs. The delivery process for conservation programs is conducted at the local, state, and national levels based on the conservation needs assessment and the conservation action plans developed by community stakeholders as part of the locally led process.
Conservation District Responsibilities
- Assemble the local working group and set the agenda.
- Acquire input from community stakeholders in the form of a conservation needs assessment.
- Conduct the local working group meetings.
Local Working Group Responsibilities
- Obtain community and stakeholder participation
- Identify program funding needs
- Identify priority natural resource concerns
- Set local priorities based on public inputs and resource needs
- Recommend eligible practices
- Recommend payment and cost-share levels
- Assist in multi-county coordination
- Assist with public outreach & information efforts
- Identify educational assistance needs
- Establish program delivery priorities
- Make program policy recommendations
- Monitor success of Programs
- Update ranking criteria annually
- Identify and recommend new conservation initiatives
- Coordinate local programs
- Provide representatives to serve on multi-county/state committees – as needed
- Promote the need for innovative conservation practices
- Evaluate achievements and parity in program delivery
- Establish program performance indicators
- Develop a comprehensive civil rights analysis
When: Select an appropriate time and date for the meeting. Consult local calendars and other organizations to ensure that other events will not interfere with attendance by the members and guests.
Where: Select a central, easily accessible location. The location should be familiar, comfortable, well lighted and well equipped with an adequate room, good tables, and chairs. The recommended meeting room setup would be a large U-shape with a place for one representative from each member government entity. Use a name tent to identify the membership (selected by the Local Working Group). Have an area for guests to sit (but not at the LWG member table). Check location for adequate restroom facilities and rules for participants that smoke.
Who should be involved: Each of the member government entities as selected by the Local Working Group – possible participants include:
- Conservation District Supervisors and Staff
- State Natural Resource Agencies
- Federal Natural Resource Agencies
- Agriculture Organizations – e.g., Wheat, Potatoes, etc.
- Fish & Wildlife Organizations – e.g., Pheasants, Ducks, Quail, Salmon, etc.
- Environmental Organizations – e.g., Audubon, Nature Conservancy, etc.
- State or local elected officials and/or staff
- Other specific natural resource related organizations
- Resource Conservation and Development Councils
- FSA county executive director and/or County Committee Members
- Cooperative Extension
- Representatives of American Indian Governments
Invitations: Prepare a mailing list of appropriate participants. As far in advance of the meeting as possible, send them an invitation describing the nature and importance of the task they are asked to help with. Follow-up phone calls should be made to individuals three to five days prior to the meeting. Consider sending a map to the meeting location, minutes from the last meeting, agenda, and background materials.
Agenda and Meeting Design: When designing the meeting agenda, think about how to motivate the participants to become involved and generate significant input. Start the meeting on time and set the tone and purpose of the meeting right away. A brief explanation of the USDA Local Working Group, responsibilities, conservation district, the conservation delivery system, and the conservation needs assessment should be presented.
Facilitation: Consider the need to utilize a trained and experienced facilitator for your meeting. Such an individual can be invaluable in keeping the discussion focused, resolving conflicts, and maximizing audience participation. Meet with, or call the facilitator, chair, district employee(s), and NRCS DC before the meeting to discuss goals, procedures, and expectations. Your state NRCS office or Extension office may be able to help you locate a trained facilitator.
Staffing: Request assistance from staff members to serve as discussion leaders, presenters, timekeepers, and recorders. The facilitator or discussion leader may need one or more assistants to record comments on a flip chart and perform other tasks. Technical experts from the district, NRCS, FSA, and county committee staff should also be on hand to answer questions. A lead staff person to take care of meeting logistics, meeting notes preparation, and distribution is essential.
Materials: The right materials at the session, in the right quantities, in the briefest form possible will help your local working group members with their decision making. Examples include an agenda, session design, note pages for PowerPoint presentations, data from previous years, ranking sheets and procedure, and resource data. A large map of the Local Work Group area should be displayed in a prominent position during the meeting. Sign-in sheets should be used to collect participants’ names, organizations, mailing addresses, phone, and email. (Add these names to your conservation district mailing list for future contact).
Equipment: Arranging for, setting-up, and testing equipment for presentations and recording the member’s discussions is critical to a successful meeting. Example equipment needs include:
- Projector (for computer and/or overhead)
- Large screen
- Easel(s) with paper
- Markers and Tape
- Phone equipment (if needed)
- Internet access (if needed)
- Electrical cord with multiple outlets
- AV table
- Pens, paper
Refreshments / Meals: Participants appreciate (and often expect) refreshments in the morning and afternoon, and a meal if meeting beyond the lunch or dinner times.
Follow-up: Before participants leave the meeting, be sure to describe to them what the conservation district and NRCS will do with the input they have provided. Plan for the next meeting of the Local Working Group including a date, location, and agenda.
State Bulletins
Meeting Agendas
Meeting Notes
Needs Assessment Forms
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the local working group important?
Rooted in the locally led conservation process, Local Working Groups (LWG) make the connection between Districts, NRCS, State, local partners, and producers to working through an assessment of current natural resource concerns in a given area or region and to identify opportunities and challenges that NRCS and partners can address through their conservation programs. This input helps guide local decision making and can influence state, regional and national program, and policy development.
What is the purpose of the Local Working Group?
In accordance with 7 CFR Part 610, Subpart C, Local Working Groups are subcommittees of the State Technical Committee and provide recommendations to USDA on local and state natural resource priorities and criteria for conservation activities and programs. This process can be also valuable to local and state leaders in the development of priorities, programs and policies.
Who convenes the Local Working Group?
It is the responsibility of the Conservation District to convene the Local Working Group. This includes developing the conservation needs assessment, setting the agenda, conducting the meeting, and sharing the information with the designated conservationist or State Technical Committee. Details about responsibilities for hosting the Local Working Group are found in 7 CFR Part 610, Subpart C and the NRCS Directives.
What is NRCS’s role in the Local Working Group?
It is the NRCS designated conservationist’s responsibility to participate in the USDA Local Working Group and to:
- Encourage and assist other USDA agencies to participate in the locally led conservation and Working group efforts, as feasible.
- Assist with identifying members for the Local Working Group.
- Help identify program priorities and resources available.
- Assist in the development of program priority area proposals.
- Comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, nondiscrimination statement, and other environmental, civil rights, and cultural resource requirements.
- Support and advise the Local Working Group concerning technical issues, program policies and procedures, and other matters relating to conservation program delivery.
- Ensure that populations are—
- Provided the opportunity to comment before decisions are rendered.
- Allowed to share the benefits of, not excluded from, and not affected in a disproportionately high and adverse manner by Government programs and activities affecting human health or the environment.
- Analyze performance indicators and reports.
- Report the conservation programs’ impacts on resources.
- Perform the responsibilities of the conservation district where a conservation district is not present or chooses not to fulfill the responsibilities outlined in 440-CPM, Part 501, Subpart A, Section 501.6A.
- Consider the Local Working Group’s recommendations on NRCS programs, initiatives, and activities.
- Ensure that recommendations, when adopted, address natural resource concerns.
What is the authority of the Local Working Group?
Local Working Group is advisory with no implementation or enforcement authority. However, it is policy for NRCS to work with the public as voluntary local working groups to submit annual reports on locally led process to identify natural resource issues facing their areas.
Is money available to cover cost of planning and running the Local Working Group?
In general, there is no direct funding to cover the cost of planning and running the Local Working Group. Districts are uniquely positioned to work in cooperative agreement with NRCS to extend its reach to deliver a unified conservation mission. In Partnership with SWCD’s outreach, technical and financial assistance objectives can be identified. Area wide conservation planning today presents opportunities for Local Working Group’s to consider and assess climate resiliency, urban and small acreage agriculture coupled with equitable distribution of resources to meet the nations production and conservation needs. The right set of participants, data and information is recommended in report that results in strong recommendations for the State Conservationist.
What if the district cannot afford or is otherwise unable to host the Local Working Group?
Districts are encouraged to first reach out to the NRCS District Conservationist to seek assistance in organizing and facilitation of the local working group meetings. If that resource is unavailable, next steps would be to contact their Area Conservationist, Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships or other NRCS contact. In addition, various local and state partners are excellent resources to reach out to.
What do we do with the data collected?
Local Working Groups should be encouraged ahead of meetings to identify specific information on local agriculture, forestry and natural resources issues. As a group members will compare data and ideas of how it can be shared and analyzed in a collective manner. Meeting facilitation and member diversity to broadly discuss the data and compare to NRCS practices, payment rates, program eligibility, production types and innovation will formulate the recommendations to the State Technical Committee and NRCS State Conservationist to make decisions on technical and financial strategy.
Will we hear anything back from the State Technical Committee after we submit our report?
Yes, The Local Working Group report and conservation needs assessment is welcomed by the State Technical Committee to assess the states priority resource concerns. Community stakeholder recommendations within the proposal target conservation needs and programs that can be supported by this planning process. The report as appropriate will be compiled and reviewed by members of the State Technical Committee and comments as well as results will be reported back to the Local Working Group.
Where can I find guidance on the function, establishment and operation of Local Working Groups?
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) – Title 7 (Agriculture), Subtitle B (Regulations of the Department of Agriculture), Chapter VI (Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture), Subchapter B (Conservation Operations), Part 610 (Technical Assistance), Subpart C (State Technical Committees).
NRCS Directives System – M_440_501_B – Subpart B – Local Work Groups
Locally Led Conservation – Refer to NRCS Manuals, Title 440 – Programs, Part 500 – Locally Led Conservation (Executive Summary, Locally Led Conservation Defined, Locally Led Leadership and Public Involvement, The Conservation Needs Assessment, The Conservation Action Plan, Implementing the Conservation Action Plan, Evaluating Results).