NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS)

Formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) had its beginnings with a 1929 emergency act of Congress in response to the famous Dust Bowl when land practices, primarily in the Midwest Farm Belt, caused extensive soil erosion and threatened the food production of the United States. Initially, ten experiment stations were established to work with Land Grant Universities to study soil erosion and ways to prevent it. As a result of these initial efforts, the Soil Erosion Service was established in 1933 to show American farmers new ways of preventing and recovering from soil erosion. In 1935 Congress changed the Soil Erosion Service into the Soil Conservation Service and made it a permanent agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1994 the name was change to Natural Resources Conservation Service to denote a broader role of responsibility in natural resource conservation. Presently, the NRCS works in three primary areas: (1) soil and water conservation; (2) resource inventories; and (3) rural community development. These activities are covered under a number of direct NRCS programs, involving only NRCS resources, and NRCS assisted programs, involving the NRCS and at least one other government agency. Direct NRCS Programs: (1) Technical Assistance (2) Great Plains Conservation Program (3) Watershed Protection, Long-Term Contracts (Public Law 566) (4) USDA Compliance Plans