BLOOMINGTON, Ill., June 14, 2005—The U.S. Department of Agriculture today
signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the American Forage and
Grassland Council (AFGC) allowing conservation participants the option to obtain
technical assistance for their privately-owned grazing and tribal lands from
certified technical service providers (TSPs) who also are certified grassland
professionals.
“This agreement will help increase the availability of technical assistance to
landowners and operators concerned about the management, productivity and health
of their grazing lands,” said USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief
Bruce Knight. “Certified TSPs can help these farmers and ranchers manage
grassland resources on private and tribal lands to gain many benefits such as
healthy wildlife populations and habitat, improved fisheries and aquatic
systems, and healthy riparian areas.”
Knight and AFGC President Ed Twidwell signed the three-year MOU during the 2005
AFGC Conference here today.
The 2002 Farm Bill expanded the availability of technical assistance to private
landowners by encouraging the use of TSPs to assist USDA in delivering
conservation technical assistance services to landowners.
The MOU allows AFGC to recommend its members, who must pass a test, to NRCS for
certification to plan and implement conservation practices on pasture, hayland
and grazed cropland. This MOU recognizes that a grassland professional
completing AFGC’s Certified Grassland Professional certification also meets
USDA’s performance criteria for providing conservation assistance in grazing and
forage. The grassland professional’s work must meet USDA’s standards and
specifications for quality conservation technical assistance.
AFGC is a national scientific and educational organization representing
grassland professionals nationwide. The private, nonprofit organization is
headquartered in Georgetown, Texas.
NRCS certifies TSPs and lists them on a national, web-based registry called
TechReg. Farmers, ranchers and other landowners seeking conservation technical
assistance can locate a TSP through this registry. More than 2,300 certified
TSPs from across the nation can be found in this registry.
In addition to AFGC, USDA has signed MOUs with the following 12
organizations—American Society of Agronomy, Society for Range Management, Iowa
State University, The Wildlife Society, Society of American Foresters, The
Irrigation Association, University of Tennessee, National Alliance of
Independent Crop Consultants, Environmental Management Solutions, American
Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, Association of Consulting Foresters
of America and American Fisheries Society.
The MOUs allow these organizations to recommend qualified individuals to USDA
for certification as TSPs in conservation planning and design, layout,
installation and checkout of approved conservation practices.
Additional information on technical service provider assistance is available at
http://techreg.usda.gov.
#
|
The Natural Resources
Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help
people
conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.
An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
|