2008 NRCS Conservation Highlights in Wyoming

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is a technical agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.

NRCS provides products and services that enable people to be good stewards of Wyoming’s soil, water, and related natural resources on private land.

Most of Wyoming’s 147 natural resource specialists work in 31 field offices across the state providing services directly to ranchers and farmers. Field office employees provide the technical expertise that enables private land managers to balance their economic goals with the needs of the natural environment, creating sustainable systems that not only produce abundant crops and livestock, but also a quality environment. NRCS field office staff work side-by- side with employees of the local conservation district and other local, state, and federal partners.

The bulleted items below are an overview of natural resource conservation applied to Wyoming’s landscape using NRCS services, programs, and technical assistance. These accomplishments are the result of the outstanding stewardship efforts of private land owners in the state and partnerships that work together to reach conservation goals.

Wyoming NRCS 2008 Commitment to the Land

• Conservation plans written on 1,652,573 acres.
• 2,060,135 acres of grazing and forest land received conservation treatment.
• Soil quality improved on 147,094 cropland acres.
• 959 wetland acres were created, restored, or enhanced.
• Soil surveys mapped or updated on 1,892,056 acres.
• 2,840 acres of farmland, forest land, and wetlands protected by conservation easements.
• 1,122 water supply forecasts were issued through the Snow Survey Program.
• 244,000 acres of land and water resources benefitted by projects carried out by five Resource Conservation and Development areas.

Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) is the foundation of NRCS. Through technical consultations and planning assistance, employees provide professional advice to help customers make good decisions about voluntary implementation of conservation systems to meet their natural resource management objectives. Planning with individuals is focused on the major agricultural uses of their land -- grazing, crop production, wildlife habitat management, and/or irrigation water management. Most planning assistance is provided through the CTA program.

A Message from the State Conervationist

The table below is a snapshot of how more than 110 million dollars in conservation was applied on the land during fiscal years (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30) 2002-2008, by Wyoming’s farmers and ranchers as they leveraged assistance through the programs available in the 2002 Farm Bill to conserve the natural resources in this great state.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) offers a great deal of flexibility to address resource needs based on issues identified by Local Work Groups. The majority of the $75,424,514 in EQIP funds allocated to Wyoming NRCS from 2002 through 2008 was distributed to counties. Local Work Groups then evaluated and selected applications to address local concerns. These concerns varied widely across the state and included livestock waste management, increasing irrigation efficiencies, and improving grazing lands.

Through the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) we provided over $6 million to partners to help purchase conservation easements that will keep Wyoming’s farm and ranchland in agriculture and preserve our open spaces.

Wildlife is a Wyoming natural resource treasure. The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) helps private land managers restore and enhance upland wildlife habitat for sage grouse, sharptail grouse, turkey, ring-necked pheasant, and winter range for big game animals. Over $3 million, which funded 137 contracts, was targeted to improving wildlife habitat in the state from 2002 through 2008.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) will bring new and restructured opportunities that NRCS will offer to private land managers as land stewardship tools. As these similar, new, and restructured tools become available, the work will continue to improve the health of Wyoming’s land.

J. XAVIER MONTOYA

Helping People Help the Land