University of Minnesota resources for the identification of trees: Tree Identification Cards that can be downloaded and printed, Beginners Guide to Minnesota Trees, and Winter Identification Key

A supplemental video for the 2021 Soil Health and Sustainability. Discussion of the impacts of climate change on agriculture and the adaptive management approach used by farmers and ranchers to adapt to climate change.

A supplemental video for the 2021 Soil Health and Sustainability. Dennis Chessman of NRCS gives a presentation on Soil Carbon at the 2018 National No-Tillage Conference.

Module 5 of 9 in the virtual portion of this blended training for 2021.  This training is designed to provide field-level conservationists and resource soil scientists with an overall understanding of soil health and sustainability principles to guide them with recommendations for land management. The training can be tailored by landuse or specialty emphasis area using modules for cropland, pasture, range, eastern forests, sod and nursery crops, organic specialty crops, and/or salinity and sodicity.

Module 4 of 9 in the virtual portion of this blended training for 2021.  This training is designed to provide field-level conservationists and resource soil scientists with an overall understanding of soil health and sustainability principles to guide them with recommendations for land management. The training can be tailored by landuse or specialty emphasis area using modules for cropland, pasture, range, eastern forests, sod and nursery crops, organic specialty crops, and/or salinity and sodicity.

Module 2 of 9 in the virtual portion of this blended training for 2021.  This training is designed to provide field-level conservationists and resource soil scientists with an overall understanding of soil health and sustainability principles to guide them with recommendations for land management. The training can be tailored by landuse or specialty emphasis area using modules for cropland, pasture, range, eastern forests, sod and nursery crops, organic specialty crops, and/or salinity and sodicity.

Module 1 of 9 in the virtual portion of this blended training for 2021.  This training is designed to provide field-level conservationists and resource soil scientists with an overall understanding of soil health and sustainability principles to guide them with recommendations for land management. The training can be tailored by landuse or specialty emphasis area using modules for cropland, pasture, range, eastern forests, sod and nursery crops, organic specialty crops, and/or salinity and sodicity.

Stream Visual Assessment Protocol 2 (SVAP2) introduces you to the process of visually assessing streams on working land. In this course, you’ll learn the foundational scientific concepts surrounding stream ecology and stream processes. These foundational concepts will help you determine if a stream’s condition is the result of natural processes or human influence. You’ll learn the basics of running the Stream Visual Assessment Protocol 2, or SVAP2, which is NRCS’s assessment tool for visually assessing streams.

The goal of this course is to introduce you to several common soil properties and interpretations, the basics of map unit composition, and Web Soil Survey, the official source of soils data. This course will also give you the opportunity to practice applying your soils knowledge within the context of the conservation planning process.

This course introduces you to NRCS planning criteria and their role in each phase of the Nine Steps of Conservation Planning. You will learn about their relation to field and automated assessment tools and about how they are used in identifying resource concerns and evaluating conservation alternatives for clients.

Course Objectives:

Understand that the overarching purpose of planning criteria is to help planners identify and address resource concerns.
Access planning criteria in the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG), Section III.