THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S CONSERVATION EFFECTS ASSESSMENT PROJECT¾REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

A Soil and Water Conservation Society Project

 

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has asked the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) to help design and implement the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP).  SWCS’ role is to facilitate an external, policy-level review of CEAP. 

 

CEAP is intended to build the capacity to produce annual, national assessments of the environmental benefits and effects of USDA conservation programs.  CEAP’s purpose is to track “the environmental benefits of USDA conservation programs so that policymakers and program managers can implement existing programs and design new programs to more effectively and efficiently meet the goals of Congress and the Administration.”  CEAP has two components, 1) a national-scale effort¾using the National Resources Inventory (NRI) sampling frame¾to estimate the environmental benefits produced by the conservation practices applied by participants in conservation programs, and 2) a set of watershed research projects to refine the performance of the national assessment.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is leading a team of USDA agencies, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and others to design and implement CEAP.

 

Rationale

 

The project has two primary purposes: (1) to seek, analyze, and synthesize input from future users and interpreters of information generated by CEAP to help USDA understand how to best design CEAP and package its outputs to ensure that the needs of those users and interpreters are met, and (2) to make recommendations for new approaches or refinements of approaches used in 2005 to build the capacity to produce comprehensive national assessments in 2006 and beyond.  The project is intended to help make CEAP more useful, responsive, and credible, and help assure that CEAP’s products will have wide utility for policymakers, program managers, opinion leaders, and constituent groups. 

Approach

 

SWCS will organize and manage the work of a blue-ribbon panel of academics and leaders of nongovernmental organizations, state agencies and tribes to review short- and long-term plans for CEAP.  The panel will represent the communities who will use, interpret, and shape opinions regarding the meaning and value of outputs from CEAP.  The federal agencies involved in the design and implementation of CEAP will each be invited to assign a staff liaison to the panel to serve as an information source and point of contact.

 

The panel will conduct its work through meetings, teleconferences and outreach to user groups.  The panel will focus it’s work in three areas: (1) understanding the expectations and needs of eventual users of CEAP outputs, (2) scrutinizing detailed plans for CEAP and intensive interaction with USDA staff responsible for the national assessment and watershed research projects, and (3) reviewing preliminary outputs generated by CEAP in 2005.

 

Early in the project, the panel will produce preliminary findings and conclusions that will help shape outputs for the 2005 test of the CEAP design and approach.  At the end of the project, the panel will produce a comprehensive report making recommendations for changes and refinements to CEAP that should be implemented during the 2006 CEAP assessment and beyond.

 

Panel Members

 

ACADEMIA

 

Sandra Batie:  Professor, Michigan State University-Department of Agricultural Economics.

Otto Doering:  Professor, Purdue University-Department of Agricultural Economics.

Peter Nowak:  Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison-Department of Rural Sociology & Department of Environmental Studies.

Jeff Zinn:  Specialist in Natural Resources Policy, Congressional Research Service.

Mary Watzin:  Director, Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory, University of Vermont-Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

 

NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

 

Krysta Harden:  Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Conservation Districts.

Ferd Hoefner:  Policy Director, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.

Tim Searchinger:  Attorney, Ecosystem Restoration Program, Environmental Defense.

Joe Martin:  Director of Congressional Relations, American Farm Bureau Federation.

Tamara McCann Thies:  Director for Environmental Issues, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Jay Hardwick:  Farmer, National Cotton Council.

STATES AND TRIBES

 

Ronald Hammerschimdt:  Director, Division of Environment, Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Ross Racine:  Executive Director, Intertribal Agricultural Council.

Charlie Ingram:  Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

Jennifer Mock:  Agriculture Conservation Policy Analyst, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

 

SWCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS EX OFFICIO LIAISON

 

Jeff Vonk:  Director, Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

 

The Soil and Water Conservation Society is a nonprofit professional society dedicated to fostering the science and art of conservation and environmental management on working land.  We pursue our mission through a combination of research, education, and advocacy.  For more information visit our website at www.swcs.org.