The NRCS Plant Materials Program includes 25 Plant Materials Centers operated by NRCS to service all 50 States and territories. This network is the only national organization of its kind positioned to evaluate vegetation to address our Nation’s natural resource challenges.  Centers describe how they approach conservation needs in these videos. 

The conservation planning process is a collaboration between the conservation planner and the customer. Conservation planners are there every step of the way to assist customers with implementation as needed.  Plant Materials Center staff provide training to conservation planners on tools and resources for addressing conservation needs. 

Plants offer a natural solution for addressing many conservation challenges.  The Plant Materials Program cooperates with a variety of public and private conservation partners to collect, evaluate, select, and release plants which are intended for commercial production to solve resource conservation problems. 

NRCS operates 25 Plant Materials Centers, each based in ecologically distinct areas, to evaluate plants and vegetative technologies to support USDA conservation programs and practices.  Each center responds to the needs of their local staff and partners. Requests range from propagation help with culturally significant plants to finding plants that can thrive in specific conditions.