Social Sciences Team News

December, 2004: At the Conservation Partnership's Diversity Conference November 30 to December 2, 2004 in Dallas Texas, a handout with templates for developing diversity plans was distributed in hard copy. The three types of templates in the file are: Recruitment Plan, Outreach Plan, and Program/Geographic/Funding Diversity Plan.

August, 2004: On May 5, 2004, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced a reorganization effort designed to streamline the agency to better meet the growing demands for NRCS services. To learn more about the reorganization, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/reorg/index.html .
Effective September 5, 2004, NRCS will officially be closing the following offices: institutes, cooperating scientists, and regions. The reorganization will realign these personnel to our new organizational structure.

July, 2004: A revised technical note, Guide for Estimating Participation in Conservation Programs and Projects (1801), provides conservationists with an estimated participation rate for the implementation of NRCS conservation programs, projects, and watersheds. In addition, the procedure also estimates technical, financial, and information/education assistance needs; management capabilities of producers; and the timing of adoption. Strategies to improve each of these five areas are included. To access, go to Interactive Tools and you will find a text version of the technical note, an interactive web version of the procedure, and an excel spreadsheet that you can download to your computer.

July, 2004: A case study, 'Irrigation, Ahuachapan, El Salvador', focusing on irrigation water management is now available. The case study uses The EconDoc Exchange to begin to examine the agricultural economics of eight irrigation technologies.

May, 2004: A new fact sheet, 'Using a Multidisciplinary Approach to Conduct a Situational Analysis', presents a step-by-step approach for collecting, analyzing, and delivering information about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats influencing resource issues in a defined geographic area.

April, 2004: A new fact sheet, 'Strengthening Public Involvement', explains the importance of getting the public involved in conservation. The fact sheet lists concrete steps that conservationists can follow to improve public involvement in their own projects.

March, 2004: A new on-line economics network, The EconDoc Exchange (EconDocs), is now available for use. This network enables persons to build, edit, store, and exchange economics documents. The initial documents include professional profit and cost estimates. The site comes with an on-line Help Guide (under About EconDocs) which explains how the network works.

February, 2004: A new fact sheet, 'How to Develop a Marketing Plan', explains how an understanding of marketing and the completion of a marketing plan can help achieve conservation goals.