Economics

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.

Economic principles and techniques, including cost effectiveness, economic feasibility, and benefit-cost analysis will be applied to all program formulation, management, and evaluation activities of the agency.
Economic effects of alternative actions should be provided to NRCS customers in order for them to make informed resource conservation decisions. NRCS policy permits cost effectiveness analysis, partial budgeting, profitability analysis, and other appropriate analyses when requested by the client. NRCS policy prohibits field offices from obtaining financial information beyond that volunteered by the client.
For nationwide consistency in the application of economics in all NRCS activities, the National Resource Economics Handbooks and other directives will be used as the guidance for the integration of economics into conservation planning, program implementation, and program evaluation at the field, state, regional and national offices of the agency.
Economic principles and techniques shall be used at all levels of the agency in order to satisfy the goal of maximizing environmental benefits per dollar expended as legislated for selected U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs.
NRCS Economics Handbooks
Part 610 NRCS National Resource Economics Handbook(PDF), H_200_NREH_610 Discount Factors spreadsheets
611 NRCS National Water Resources Handbook for Economics (PDF; 855 KB)
Financial Functions Spreadsheets
Statistical Formulas and Charts Spreadsheets
Part 612 NRCS National Resource Economics Handbook, Water Quality (PDF, 4MB)
Part 613 NRCS National Resource Economics Handbook, Payment Schedules (PDF, 286 KB)
Principles and Guidelines for Water Resource Projects
Economics Technical Note No. 340-ECN-1, Basic Economic Analysis Using T-Charts

Contact
Belinda Bell, Agricultural Economist

(501) 301-3149

 

GIS

Geospatial Data Gateway
Provides One Stop Shopping for natural resources or environmental geospatial data at anytime, from anywhere, to anyone. The Gateway allows you to choose your area of interest, browse and select data from our catalog, customize the format, and have it downloaded or shipped on CD for use in GIS software.

Obtain Climate Data
Watershed Boundary Data
Environmental Easement Boundaries

 

NRI

National Resources Inventory - Arkansas Survey Findings
We are pleased to present to you this Summary Report of the Arkansas Natural Resources Inventory (ANRI). It is the latest in a series of natural resource inventories conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides state consistent data for the 25-year period from 1982 through 2007.

This document presents estimates for basic state natural resources inventory data themes including the most recent trends and changes in soil erosion, irrigation, prime farmland, wetlands, land use, land cover, and land capability class and sub-class in Arkansas.

It provides updated information on the trends, status and condition of water, soil, land, and related resources on Arkansas’s non-Federal land. Non-Federal lands include privately owned lands, Tribal and trust lands, and lands controlled by state and local governments. It also provides information on natural resource and environmental conditions for these lands with the specific goal of supporting agricultural and environmental policy development and program implementation.

We hope this information will be useful to our conservation partners as well as others including natural resource managers, policy makers, analysts, consultants, other Federal agencies, state governments, colleges and universities, farm groups, and the general public.

This ANRI Summary Report is derived from information collected from the 2007 National Resources Inventory (NRI) Summary Report. The NRI was conducted by NRCS in cooperation with Iowa State University’s Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, which serves as the NRI Statistical Unit providing statistical and survey methods support for the NRI survey program.

As NRCS celebrates 75 years of Helping People Help the Land, our agency will continue to promote every avenue and opportunity to provide our partners and customers the products and services they need to be good stewards of their soil, water, and other natural resources.

MICHAEL E. SULLIVAN State Conservationist  
Key Findings of the 2007 NRI in Arkansas
Overview of Survey Findings for Arkansas

Cropland

Pastureland

Developed Land

Cropland Erosion

Prime Farmland

Conservation Reserve Program

Irrigation

Surface Water

Wetlands

National Resources Inventory
An Overview of the NRI

Glossary of Selected Terms

Appendix I. 2007 Arkansas NRI Tables
Table A. Total surface area in thousands of acres, by broad cover/use and year

Table B-1. Changes in broad cover/use in thousands of acres between 1997 and 2002

Table B-2. Changes in broad cover/use in thousands of acres between 2002 and 2007

Table B-3. Changes in broad cover/use in thousands of acres between 1982 and 2007

Table C-1. Average annual sheet and rill erosion in tons/acre/year, by broad cover/use and year

Table C-2. Average annual wind erosion in tons/acre/year, by broad cover/use and year

Table D. Prime farmland area in thousands of acres, by broad cover/use and year

Table E. Conservation Reserve Program contracted practices in thousands of acres, by year

Table F-2. Noncultivated cropland in thousands of acres, by specific land cover/use and year

Table G. Use of the land in thousands of acres for 2007, by broad cover/use

Table H. Irrigated cropland and pastureland in thousands of acres, by year

Table I. Irrigated cropland and pastureland in thousands of acres, by type of irrigation and year

Table K. Cowardin system in thousands of acres for 2007, by broad cover/use
The following PDF document requires Adobe Acrobat.

Summary Report of the Arkansas Natural Resources Inventory (PDF; 5.34 MB)
Additional Information
National Resources Inventory
Last Modified: 02/23/2011

 

Rapid Watershed Assessment

Rapid watershed assessments provide initial estimates of where conservation investments would best address the concerns of landowners, conservation districts, and other community organizations and stakeholders. These assessments help land-owners and local leaders set priorities and determine the best actions to achieve their goals.

These assessments are conducted by watershed planning teams traveling through each watershed, meeting with landowners and conservation groups, inventorying agricultural areas, identifying conservation opportunities and current levels of resource management, and estimating impacts of these opportunities on the local priority resource concerns.

Benefits of These Activities
While these rapid assessments provide less detail and analysis than full-blown studies and plans, they do provide the benefits of NRCS locally-led planning in less time and at a reduced cost. The benefits include:

Quick and inexpensive plans for setting priorities and taking action
Providing a level of detail that is sufficient for identifying actions that can be taken with no further watershed-level studies or analyses
Actions to be taken may require further Federal or State permits or ESA or NEPA analysis but these activities are part of standard requirements for use of best management practices (BMPs) and conservation systems
Identifying where further detailed analyses or watershed studies are needed
Plans address multiple objectives and concerns of landowners and communities
Plans are based on established partnerships at the local and state levels
Plans enable landowners and communities to decide on the best mix of NRCS programs that will meet their goals
Plans include the full array of conservation program tools (i.e. cost-share practices, easements, technical assistance)