Train the Trainer: Increasing Conservation Planning Aptitude Across AZ

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: mentoring, technical assistance, workshop

This project will support 10 rangeland management professionals to become USDA NRCS-certified Technical Service Providers (TSP) in the first year. Certification ensures TSPs are qualified to guide landowners effectively in conservation planning and implementation. The following year, these certified individuals will lead eight workshops, reaching approximately 240 producers/land managers and ag professionals from amongst Arizona’s conservation districts, universities, and other ag/conservation-focused NGOs, on how to write their own conservation plans, which they can use/share with their respective land regulatory agencies.  

Project Objectives include:

• Increasing Technical Capacity: Enhance the technical capacity of ten agricultural professionals to become certified Technical Service Providers (TSPs), equipping them with the skills and knowledge to support producers in developing conservation plans that meet NRCS criteria and in implementing sustainable agricultural practices effectively.
• Expanding Workforce for Conservation Planning: Address the NRCS resource gap by developing a skilled workforce of TSPs who can provide essential conservation planning services. Historically, utilization of TSPs is low in the Western states, which speaks to the lack of information about TSPs and how they can benefit local agricultural communities working with NRCS.