Glossary of Conservation Terms
As you dig deeper into the world of conservation, you’ll come across many important terms that will help you along the way.
Review the glossary below to become familiar with common conservation terms and their definitions.
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- AgLearn - A USDA Learning Management System including 3,000+ online courses and thousands of resources to aid in studying and training.
- Area/Landscape/Watershed-Wide Planning - Conservation planning conducted at larger scales instead of on individual properties, and often carried out in collaboration with community leaders.
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- Certified Planner - A conservation planner who has completed the required training and demonstrated competency in creating conservation plans for producers. In many cases, these planners also oversee or approve work for planners who aren’t yet certified.
- Conservation Agricultural Mentoring Program (CAMP) - A new, employee-based mentoring program, established under a national partnership.
- Conservation Assessment Ranking Tool (CART) - An application evaluation tool that helps facilitate conservation delivery.
- Conservation Desktop (CD) - The software application used for documenting conservation planning information and producing conservation plans.
- Conservation Plan - A conservation plan is a voluntary, written record of how landowners/operators plan to manage natural resources while meeting their operational goals.
- Conservation Planner - A planner who develops conservation plans, with support from partner employees, and is overseen by a certified planner.
- Conservation Planning Process - A voluntary, customer-focused service provided by a conservation planner that works with landowners/producers to apply a holistic, science-based approach to managing land and natural resources sustainably while meeting their goals.
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- District Employee - Managers, Administrators, technicians, education specialists and other district employee titles.
- District Official - Supervisors, Directors, and other titles for the elected or appointed conservation district boards.
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- eAuthorization (eAuth) - An authorization procedure used to access various USDA data and services.
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- Historically and Currently Underserved Communities - Communities that includes beginning farmers or ranchers, limited resource farmers or ranchers, socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, and veteran farmers or ranchers
- Hugh Hammond Bennett Award Program - An award program supported and funded by the five NCPP partners that recognizes individual conservation planners and producers for their conservation efforts.
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- Local Working Group - Typically county-level or conservation district meetings between farmers, landowners, conservation partners, and other community members, with the purpose of discussing natural resources needs for that county.
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- Technical Service Providers (TSP) - Non-NRCS conservation planners that offer expertise in planning, designing, and incorporating services to farmers and landowners.
- Tools - Useful systems that help conservation employees and planners perform conservation tasks efficiently. Examples include CD, CART and the Field Office Technical Guide, however there are many dozens of tools used throughout the country.
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- Workforce Development - Human resources activities that contribute to a fully trained and successful staff, including hiring, formal/informal training, and on-the-job training