The Rhode Island State Technical Committee advises the NRCS State Conservationist on the technical guidelines necessary to implement the conservation provisions of the Farm Bill.
State Technical Committee members include representatives from federal and state agriculture and environmental agencies, agricultural producers, Extension Service and Universities, nonprofit organizations and agribusiness. Meetings are open to the public and are held as often as necessary to advise and implement NRCS conservation programs. For information about upcoming meetings, please call the Rhode Island State Office at 401-828-1300.
The STC meets regularly to provide information, analysis, and recommendations to appropriate USDA officials, who strongly consider their advice. Individuals or groups wanting to participate as members on the STC may submit requests to the State Conservationist explaining their interest and relevant credentials.
Decision Making Process
The list of eligible practices in Rhode Island, payment rates and limits, eligible resource concerns, and state scoring criteria are developed based on input and recommendations from the STC. County-level priorities are based on input from the Local Working Group (LWG) that provides feedback to the Field Offices.
Local Working Groups (LWGs) are subcommittees of the State Technical Committee and provide recommendations to USDA on local and state natural resource priorities and criteria for conservation activities and programs.
The priorities set at the state and county level are those that the STC and LWG determined were of the greatest need and would have the greatest positive environmental impact. The scoring process at both the state and local level was developed in order to select those projects that would provide the greatest environmental benefit, and therefore provide the greatest public good.
2024 STC Meeting Schedule
- Wednesday, November 8th, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m., virtual via MS Teams. Contact Jermaine Jenkins at 401-822-8824 or Jermaine.Jenkins@usda.gov to register to receive a MS Teams meeting link.
Past Meeting Info
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RI STC Meeting Minutes_110823 (21.2 KB)
2024 LWG Meeting Schedule
This year's Local Working Group meetings will be held in each Conservation District area.
- Apr. 2, 6:00-7:15 p.m. - Northern Rhode Island Local Working Group Meeting, Cranston Public Library
- Mar. 23, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Southern Rhode Island Local Working Group Meeting, Exeter Public Library
- Feb. 6, 6:00-7:00 p.m. - Eastern Rhode Island Local Working Group Meeting, Greenvale Vineyards
Additional Information
State Technical Committees
Every state has an NRCS State Technical Committee. The State Technical Committee advises the State Conservationist on technical guidelines necessary to implement the conservation provisions of the Farm Bill.
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