Conservation Plan Format and Content

The conservation plan document provided to the cooperator must be a quality document containing meaningful information for the client. It should include the following items:

• A folder, binder, or other means to assemble the contents of the plan
• A conservation district cooperative agreement where applicable
• A soil map with appropriate interpretations, such as land capability groupings, woodland suitability groups, and other interpretive information regarding suitability for specific land uses
• Appropriate worksheets developed with the client. The worksheets should include such things as forage inventories, erosion estimates, and cost estimates
• Available job sheets and other prepared material applicable to the client's specific planned practices
• Operation and maintenance agreements and procedures. Detailed operation and maintenance procedures, depending on their extent and complexity, may be contained in a separate document, but must be referenced in the conservation plan in conjunction with the conservation system and practices contained in the plan
• Designs may be included, however, they are generally kept in the office file under the client's name.
• A conservation plan map, at a minimum, each map should include the following:

      (a)    Title showing:

• "Conservation Plan Map"
• Prepared with assistance from USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service" or from "____"
• Name of the conservation district, county, and state
• Scale of the map
• Data needed to locate the specific land unit, such as section numbers, etc.
• Date prepared
• North arrow.

       (b)    Body of map with:

• Boundary lines of the planning unit outlined
• Field boundaries
• Land use and acres for each land unit correlating to client land use in the case file
• Appropriate map symbols and a map symbol legend on the map or as an attachment using NRCS map symbols in the National Map Symbol Handbook, Title 170, Part 601.

       (c)    Land use designations:

• Client-specific land use designations can be used on the plan map as desired (crop, forest, grazed forest, grazed range, headquarters, mined, natural area, pasture, recreation, urban, water, watershed protection and/or wildlife).

        (d)    Secondary land use, when appropriate to the client's objectives:

• A record of the client's decisions:
  • Use reports generated electronically as applicable
  • The recorded decisions will apply to land units reflecting common land use, objectives and treatment needs (referred to as conservation management units)
  • Include the appropriate land unit label, official practice name, brief description of the practice, and schedule of practice application in the proper sequence by calendar year
• Available maps, sketches, and designs resulting from the planning process that will be useful to the client in implementing the plan
• Information reflecting site-specific effects and impacts based on on-site visits.

NOTE: The NRCS case file WILL contain:

• Assistance notes
• Conservation district information related to the plan, and
• Client's objectives and decisions
• Design documentation
• Documentation of applied practices
• Engineering notes
• Environmental documentation
• Forms and worksheets used in developing and evaluating alternatives
• Maps - conservation plan and soils
• Operation and maintenance agreements and plans
• Other appropriate supporting documents.

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