Land Parcel Level Conservation
Construction Sites
Soil erosion and sediment control, post construction water quality and the protection of wetlands and streams are critical to the environment. These issues can all be effectively dealt with in an economical way. Developers have found through experience that wetland and riparian area setbacks are a selling feature for the surrounding lots and the whole development. The attachments below include model ordinances that can be used to protect water quality on the construction site and for downstream areas. These model ordinances have been adopted by many communities in Northeast Ohio and have been proven to be effective and usable.
Plants
Native Prairie Plants ID Guide by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Their description is...”The purpose of this guide is to help you identify come commonly used conservation plants. Its color photos, line drawings and seed photos will help you make identifications. Also included are plant stand evaluation and recommended use charts.”
Plant Materials information by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA
The NRCS Plant Materials Program develops new applied technologies through on-the-ground demonstration plantings and partnerships with public and private land users and agencies. The Program is developing technology for inter-seeding existing Conservation Reserve Program acres, native plant reseeding in National Parks for wildfire restoration, and the use of perennial grasses for biofuel. The Plant Materials Program provides methods and plants for projects enhancing ecological diversity; stabilizing stream banks; revegetating wetlands, implementing odor control; establishing buffers; and improving range.
Conservation Trees and Shrubs ID Guide and Conservation Plants ID Guide are two examples of what is available on the NRCS web site. See Attachments
These and many other publications are available at the following website: http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/
Soils
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in South Carolina has released a series of videos entitled Healthy Soils, Healthy Crops. The ten videos focus on soil health and some of the conservation practices (cover crops, residue management, crop rotation) that improve soil health and activities (nutrient and integrated pest management) that benefit from improved soil health. Precision agriculture is also highlighted. The videos were produced by Robin (Buz) Kloot, Ph.D., Research Associate Prof. Earth Sciences and Resources Institute, University of South Carolina.
Additional soil health videos featuring North Dakota agricultural producers are available at: http://vimeo.com/channels/raythesoilguy
Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.
Wetlands and the Riparian areas border streams are critical to the well being of the environment. Protecting these areas from development activities is an important and necessary part of a communities planning and zoning regulations. The publication titled Community Riparian Guide provides more detail on all these points.
Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.
Official Soil Series Descriptions
“Official soil series description” is a term applied to the description approved by the Natural Resources Conservation Service that defines a specific soil series in the United States. These official soil series descriptions are descriptions of the taxa in the series category of the national system of classification. They mainly serve as specifications for identifying and classifying soils. More background >>
Soil Data Mart
The Soil Data Mart allows you to:
An alternative presentation of the soil survey area data contained in the Soil Data Mart, including on screen or printed soil maps, is available through Web Soil Survey.
The Soil Data Access website provides additional options for requesting soil tabular and spatial data. This website and suite of web services is geared towards intermediate and advanced end-users.
Health Soils Healthy Crops Video Series
This channel is home to a series of ten videos that focus on soil health and some of the conservation practices (e.g., cover crops, residue management, crop rotation) that improve soil health and some of the activities (e.g., nutrient and pest management) that benefit from improved soil health. Precision agriculture is also highlighted as well.
The project was a collaboration between USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service in South Carolina and the Earth Sciences and Resources Institute-University of South Carolina (USC-ESRI).
Conservation Grants Available
Outdoor Skills Development - State of Ohio “Step Outside Grants”
The Ohio Division of Wildlife offers “STEP OUTSIDE” grants to local government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other family and youth-oriented facilities to promote outdoor skills such as fishing, hunting, trapping, archery, and shooting sports. These grants are designed to provide funding for activities that are otherwise unaffordable for the sponsoring agency or organization; they are not meant to fund existing programs or to provide on-going funding for newly established programs or activities. This mini-application is designed to facilitate the application process, and to make the grants easily accessible to all interested agencies and organizations.
Free Natural Resource Publications
A variety of free publication on natural resources can be found on many different websites.
LandCare
The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides a variety of agency forms and free publications about conserving our natural resources:
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources provides many interesting publications.