AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has released the Iowa Conservation Professionals Map, an online resource that helps farmers and landowners easily connect with conservation professionals working in their local area.
Conservation professionals walk landowners through the process of protecting their soil, water and habitat resources, including assessing what a farm needs, designing practices, getting them installed and finding funding to offset costs. Catherine DeLong, water quality program manager at ISU Extension and Outreach, noted that these hands-on relationships matter.
“Research from Iowa State University shows regular contact with a conservation professional is the single strongest factor in whether a farmer adopts new conservation practices,” she said. “We want farmers and landowners to easily connect with conservation professionals so they can take the next step in their conservation journey.”
The map primarily includes professionals from several public and nonprofit sources, many of whom hold titles such as watershed coordinator or project coordinator. It includes staff with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, counties, cities and various nonprofit organizations. It also lists conservation agronomists from the Iowa Soybean Association and agricultural cooperatives whose work centers on water quality.
“To reach our state’s water quality goals, it takes an entire industry working together,” said Rebekah Jones, manager of strategic communications and initiatives with the Iowa Soybean Association. “Projects like this one ensure that we know where all the helpers are. It’s these farmer-facing staff that make our farmers successful with conservation.”
While USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service staff and other forestry, wildlife and drinking water contacts are not included, they are still searchable through ISU Extension and Outreach’s existing natural resources contacts directory.
Iowans can find their conservation professional by entering an address or selecting a parcel of land on the map. Professionals are listed from the smallest service area to the largest. Every acre in Iowa is covered by at least one professional, and some areas have up to 10.
For example, clicking a parcel in Plymouth County in Northwest Iowa shows five conservation professionals who serve the area, including staff from the Plymouth Soil and Water Conservation District, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, local agricultural cooperatives and the Iowa Soybean Association.
“We provide technical assistance and grant funding to groups interested in protecting their local water bodies,” said Steve Konrady, nonpoint source coordinator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “We do this work on a watershed basis, and those boundaries can be subtle without a strong knowledge of Iowa’s landscape and hydrology. This map will help folks find us where we work and also learn a little bit about how many watershed projects are out there helping to improve Iowa’s water resources.”
The project was developed by ISU Extension and Outreach, with technical support from Iowa State’s Geographic Information Systems Support and Research Facility. Ongoing funding comes from ISU Extension and Outreach, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Soybean Association, The Nature Conservancy and the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance.
Farmers and landowners can search for a conservation professional near them at Iowa Conservation Professionals Map (go.iastate.edu/FindMyCP).
For more information, contact Catherine DeLong at crdelong@iastate.edu.
