Practical Conservation

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has a new web-based soil survey.  I quickly was able to define an “Area of Interest”  and produce both a soils map and access information about the soil types (RUSLE information, building suitability, flooding potential, etc.).  Once you have the soil map for your farm, you can go to NRCS’s new soil rental rate site (which I reviewed earlier) and enroll in Farm Bill conservation programs.  NRCS is doing some nice work with their web-based technical tools lately.

Southern Forests Network has compiled some great resources about identifying and managing invasive species HERE.  The resources include:

Invasive Plants Field and Reference Guide: An Ecological Perspective of Plant Invaders of Forests and Woodlands gives a scientific synthesis of what is known about the behavior of such species in managed, disturbed, and pristine forested systems in addition to key information for accurate identification.

Living the Country Life has articles on creating wildlife on your property in cooperation with Pheasants Forever and New Holland.

Objective-driven conservation planning just got easier! ArkansasHabitat.org is a fantastic website organizing Farm Bill conservation options by objective (for example, Managing Cropland for Habitat or Restoring Wetlands). One click on an objective takes you to the appropriate practices with pictures, descriptions and – most importantly – potential sources of funding and NRCS practice standards. The information is specific to Arkansas, but the Farm Bill information is relevant to all states.

Accessibility – A+; Price – FREE; Ease of Use – A. You know my students will use this site next semester!