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Education and Teaching Materials

Education and Teaching Materials

A Soil Profile

Create a card showing soil horizons.

Topics
Soil
Education and Teaching Materials

Alaska Curricula for Conservation Planners

These training materials are intended for use by partners, Soil and Water Conservation District staff, Tribal Conservation District staff, NRCS employees who are pursuing a conservation planner certification. They are also useful educational resources for the public.

Topics
Alaska
Alaska Mountain View
Education and Teaching Materials

Biology of Soil Compaction

This document describes the biology of soil compaction and how USDA-NRCS can help producers fight and reverse compaction. 

Topics
Idaho
hands holding soil
Education and Teaching Materials

Block Diagrams

Locator map and list of block diagrams from published soil surveys.

Topics
Soil
Block diagrams from published soil surveys.
Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Finance at NRCS

Conservation finance is an emerging sector that seeks to find new financial vehicles and approaches to attract funding to conservation. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Housing Service (RUS) Administrator Tammye Treviño visit to South Dakota to co-chair a StrikeForce meeting in Sisseton, SD, attend a Housing Fair, and visit homes and facilities financed by USDA, Rural Development (RD) .
Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Trees and Shrubs for Montana

This guide is designed as an aid for planting trees and shrubs in Montana. It can be used to select plants for windbreaks, riparian plantings, recreation, and wildlife plantings, ornamental or environmental plantings, reforestation, and critical area plantings.

Topics
MontanaForestry
Education and Teaching Materials

Conservation Webinar Portal

The Conservation Webinar Portal (NRCS Science and Technology Training Library) is a free multi-disciplinary training and extension webinar platform.

Education and Teaching Materials

Cover Crop Tips - Montana

Cover crop is one of the tools that agricultural producers can use to improve soil health. Cover crops have traditionally been used to reduce erosion or add nitrogen to soil. But they do even more.

Topics
MontanaSoil Health
Education and Teaching Materials

Defining LRR, MLRA, and LRU

Definitions for Land Resource Region (LRR), Major Land Resource Area (MLRA), and Land Resource Unit (LRU).

Topics
Soil
Education and Teaching Materials

Delaware NRCS Publications & Fact Sheets

Read the latest Delaware NRCS publications and fact sheets to learn how NRCS and farmers and landowners can work together to improve agricultural operations while helping the environment. (Note: All publications can be viewed using Adobe PDF unless otherwise stated.)

Topics
DelawareAirAnimalsEnergySoilWildlife HabitatUrban AgricultureWildlifeAgricultural Conservation Easement ProgramAgricultural Management AssistanceConservation Stewardship ProgramEnvironmental Quality Incentives ProgramRegional Conservation Partnership Program
Agricultural operation in Delaware
Education and Teaching Materials

Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health – #DSP4SH

Through the Science of Soil Health initiative, cooperators are collecting dynamic soil properties (DSPs). A common set of soil health metrics will be collected across regions and soils and linking the information gathered to soil survey DSP databases and products.

Topics
Soil
Graduate student describing soils profile
Education and Teaching Materials

Environmental Markets at NRCS

Environmental markets are an approach that can be used to help landowners get conservation on the ground. While NRCS has substantial funding to dedicate to private lands conservation, environmental markets complement NRCS’s work by bringing private and other non-Federal investments to private lands.

The Metrolina greenhouses operation has drastically cut its energy bills by replacing a natural gas heating system with a wood boiler, funded in part with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
Education and Teaching Materials

Guide to Pronouncing Taxonomic Terms

This guide presents a list of terms (in alphabetical order) that are used in Soil Taxonomy along with other terms used to describe soils. 

Topics
Soil
Education and Teaching Materials

History of Wisconsin Soil Survey

The year 2006 marked the completion of the initial field mapping for the National Cooperative Soil Survey in Wisconsin. This publication recognizes the agencies and individuals who have invested time, funding, and manpower in the initial field mapping of the state over the last 100 years or so.

Topics
Wisconsin
Two men observing slope of soil erosion
Education and Teaching Materials

How to Protect Livestock from Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)

Freshwater harmful algal blooms can produce toxins that are harmful to humans, livestock, working animals, and pets. NRCS has several conservation practices that may be useful in protecting animals and people by restricting access to contaminated water or providing alternate water sources.

Topics
AnimalsWater
An algal bloom in a pond.