Conservation Technical Assistance

NACD's mission is to serve conservation districts by providing national leadership and a unified voice for natural resource conservation.

The Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) program provides the technical capabilities including conservation planning, design and implementation assistance that helps people plan and apply conservation on the land. Technical assistance and support is provided to agricultural producers, land owners, managers and many others.

Greater adoption of conservation practices can be accomplished without direct financial assistance such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program or Conservation Security Program. CTA is often used to prepare land and landowners for participation in financial assistance programs. However, there remains a strong demand for technical assistance from land owners not seeking financial assistance from cost share or incentive programs.

CTA is administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) under the Department of Agriculture.

Funding Distribution
CTA funds are distributed through NRCS Conservation Operations account in the Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The Conservation Operations account includes CTA, the snow survey, the soil survey, the grazing lands conservation initiative, the plant material centers, and computer and information technology support for all NRCS computers. CTA funds are also used for NRCS staff to enter into cost-share agreements with state and local agencies including conservation districts. They allow local, state and federal resources to be maximized and allow the most efficient delivery of conservation programs. Funding for this program has reached critical lows.

NACD supports increased funding for the NRCS Conservation Operations account through the Fiscal Year 2008 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.

NACD Request for FY08
$903 Million

President’s Proposal for FY08
$802 Million

House Proposal for FY08
$851.910 Million

Senate Proposal for FY08 (committee)
$863 Million