Putting Locally Led Conservation to Work

Conservation districts should play the lead role in the locally led conservation process. The process, which is resource driven rather than program driven, should be used to guide and coordinate all federal, state and local conservation efforts.

Locally led conservation involves a sequence of steps to involve the entire community in both planning and implementation. These steps include:

• reaching out to the public and bringing local stakeholders together;
  
• using a conservation needs assessment to analyze local needs and concerns;
  
• setting local priorities based on public input and needs assessment;
  
• identifying program resources available to address local needs and priorities;
  
• developing and implementing a conservation plan; and
  
• reviewing and evaluating needs and accomplishments

Public Outreach

One of the most important steps in the locally led conservation process is to solicit input from organizations and individuals familiar with local resource needs and conditions. Local stakeholders are a critical link in assessing the resource base, setting priorities and ultimately carrying out the local conservation program.

An effective outreach effort could involve setting up public meetings to garner community input. It might also include the establishment of an ongoing advisory committee. Other ideas to consider include conducting surveys and holding focus group meetings.

The most important goal of your outreach effort is to enable your constituents to help identify natural resource issues that affect them. By involving a broad representation of your customer base, you will have the opportunity to increase your program's visibility, prestige and base of support within the community.

To begin your public outreach effort, you will need to identify all of the agencies, organizations, businesses and individuals in your community that have an interest in natural resource management. Even organizations and individuals that traditionally have not shared your point of view should be included.

Conservation Needs Assessment

The conservation needs assessment is another critical element of your locally led conservation process. With input from all interested parties, this assessment will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the condition of the district's natural resource base and be the platform for making decisions about local priorities or policies in all local conservation programs.

The conservation needs assessment is a comprehensive analysis of the work that needs to be done to achieve broad conservation goals and to solve specific natural resource concerns. It should be based on public input and include a detailed analysis of natural resource concerns within the district. The needs assessment should address the entire resource base, including the predominant land uses with which the district will work.

A major purpose of the conservation needs assessment is to ensure that conservation programs address the most important local resource needs. The assessment will be the basis for selecting the type and extent of needed conservation systems and practices. It will also be the basis for making recommendations on funding priorities and priority areas to be addressed by the various conservation programs available within the district.

Here are some suggested steps to take in carrying out your conservation needs assessment:

• Identify specific concerns and existing conditions and trends for each natural resource in your district.
• Identify, agree upon and document community objectives.
  
• Analyze conservation needs and priorities.
  
• Prioritize natural resource concerns.
  
• Identify geographic areas and potential priority areas.

Putting the Pieces Together

The information gathered through the public outreach and conservation needs assessment process can then be used to:

• set measurable conservation goals and objectives;
  
• identify conservation initiatives, systems and practices needed to achieve these goals and objectives; and identify federal, state, local and non-government programs and services that are available to address specific conservation needs.
  

As traditional funding sources decline or shift, this process will provide opportunities to examine new sources of assistance and new players to help carry out your conservation program. Locally led conservation will help you identify ways to marshal support from a variety of sources.

The conservation needs assessment and resulting district conservation plan will form a foundation upon which all local conservation efforts should be based. This process should be the basis for carrying out federal programs such as the Farm Bill, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act, as well as the many state and local programs that provide assistance to private land managers.

Excerpted from "Locally Led Conservation: An Overview for Conservation Districts" produced by the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) in cooperative with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Association of State Conservation Agencies.

For more information on developing a locally led conservation program, visit the NACD website's section on locally led conservation, including their reference and tools pages.