Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D)

Providing technical assistance to local communities to stimulate economies and natural resources

The Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) program provides technical assistance to local communities through designated USDA areas led by RC&D Councils. The purpose of the program is to accelerate the conservation, development and use of natural resources while improving the general level of economic activity and standard of living in communities across the nation. RC&D Councils coordinate conservation and rural development assistance available from USDA, other federal, state, and local government and nongovernmental sources.

Central to RC&D is the idea that local people know what is best for their communities. The RC&D Councils (volunteers representing public and private sector sponsors and other local organizations) undertake community driven actions that are strategically focused on regional resource conservation and economic viability.

To date, 375 areas across the United States, Guam, American Samoa, Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands have been designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as RC&D areas. RC&D Councils, as nonprofit organizations, serve more than 85 percent of U.S. counties and more than 77 percent of the United States.

The USDA provides technical assistance in the form of a local staff person (an "RC&D coordinator") to support each multi-county RC &D area. The RC&D Council identifies the environmental, economic, and social needs of that area. Goals, objectives, project priorities, and the resources needed are documented in an area plan.

The RC&D coordinator, supported by USDA, serves the council by helping complete project designs and get projects underway by assisting the council to locate the necessary resources. Resources may include technical or financial assistance from USDA agencies, state or local governments, local conservation districts, or private industry.

RC&D activities as outlined in the council's "area plan" address land conservation, water management, community development, and land management issues. These include:

Controlling erosion and sedimentation
Conserving and improving the quality of water, including irrigation and rural water supplies
Mitigating impacts of floods and high water tables
Repairing and improving reservoirs
Improving agricultural water management
Developing resource-based industries
Protecting rural industries and people from natural resource hazards
Developing adequate rural water and waste disposal systems
Improving opportunities for recreation and tourism
Improving the quality of rural housing
Providing adequate health and education facilities
Satisfying essential transportation and communication needs
Promoting food security, economic development, and education
Promoting energy conservation, including the production of energy crops
Protecting agricultural land, as appropriate, from conversion to other uses
Creating, improving, and protecting fish and wildlife habitat

Project Examples

The Coastal Georgia RC&D Council obtained funding for an Erosion and Sediment Control Inspector for the Coastal Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) that serves five counties in Georgia. The goal is to reduce erosion and sediment control violations by improving the skills of local issuing authorities and of builders in construction site Best Management Practices (BMP).
The Big Sandy RC&D in Kentucky provided grant writing assistance and coordination efforts to the Floyd County Fiscal Court and the Floyd County Board of Education for their New Century Aquaponics Project. The project provides entrepreneur training, startup assistance, and regional marketing for future "aquaponic" operations in eastern Kentucky. Aquaponics is a method of raising fish and plants in a closed system housed in a greenhouse.
Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the Virginia Department of Forestry, four RC&D Councils are working together to reduce fire risks in wooded subdivisions through education and conversion of wildfire fuel to marketable products in southeastern Virginia. Several grants were folded together to assess the fire risk in the communities and to make presentations to community leaders, planners, and fire departments about the need for risk reduction and techniques of "FireWise" planning. Five full-day workshops provided attendees with the essential elements of planning wooded subdivisions for wildfire prevention.
The Green Hills RC&D Council's Wetland Interpretive Center in Missouri sponsors a wetland development site with wide implications for tourism, education, and healthy recreation. The project started as a 240-acre wetland mitigation site with the Missouri Department of Conservation and has grown into a locally supported community project. Earth moving of over 1 million cubic yards and planting of wetland trees and shrubs were part of the designed wetland in 2002. The development of boardwalks, viewing platforms, and recreation trails is continuing.
Controlling urban sprawl and creating sustainable communities is a focus of the Western Reserve RC&D in Northeast Ohio. The council secured private funding to staff a farmland preservation office and hire a consultant to assist communities with development alternatives. The project has reached more than 175 communities, 24 of which have adopted conservation development zoning.

Application and Financial Information
Written applications must be in the form outlined in the National Resource Conservation and Development Manual. Details of the procedure are available from state and field offices of NRCS. Designation of a new RC&D area depends on the level of appropriations for the program. Funding available for RC&D areas in fiscal year 2003 was $49.079 million.

Eligibility, Uses, and Restrictions
Eligible applicants are state and local governments, Tribes, and nonprofit organizations with authority to plan or carry out activities relating to resource use and development in multi-jurisdictional areas working through designated RC&D Councils.

Contact
To find out about RC&D activities in your area, contact your local NRCS office. Check your telephone directory under U.S. Government, Department of Agriculture.

National Program Office
USDA/NRCS
National RC&D Program Manager
Stop 2890, Room 6013S
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20250-2890
Phone: (202) 720-0557; Fax: (202) 690-0639

Internet
www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/rcd/

Last Updated January 22, 2005