Data, Maps, and Analysis

The policy of the Natural Resources Conservation Service is that economics is an essential consideration in all agency decision making. Economic principles must be applied in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of agency policies and program activities to provide the most cost effective assistance to customers, cooperators, and partners for the sustained use of natural resources.

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems. GIS software automates databases and maps to reveal the spatial patterns of data. A Geographic Information System (GIS) lets the user visualize, analyze, query, and interpret data to explore patterns and trends in a map-based context.

A statistical survey of land use and natural resource conditions and trends on U.S. non-Federal lands.

North Dakota NRCS is in the process of developing a Rapid Watershed Assessments (RWA) for each of the states 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC-8) sub-basins. RWAs provide an overview of each HUCs current natural resource condition and concerns. Each RWA organizes the resource information into a document that local conservationists, units of government, watershed groups, and others can use to identify conservation opportunities, set priorities, and determine the best actions to achieve their goals.