Welcome to the Iowa Conservation Professionals Map!
The goal of this resource is to help farmers, landowners and other stakeholders connect with conservation professionals in their local area. Conservation professionals help farmers and landowners protect and steward the soil, water, and habitat resources on their farm. They work with farmers and landowners to evaluate the health of the land, recommend changes, locate and design new practices, install them on the landscape, and navigate funding to offset costs.
How to use this Map:
- You can find a list of your conservation professionals and their contact information by clicking on the map or inputting your address in the search function.
- When you click on the map, a pop-up will appear listing the conservation professionals who cover that area. You can click the arrows at the top right of the pop-up to cycle through the professionals. The map lists the professional who covers the smallest area, then cycles through, to the largest area that you clicked on.
- On the righthand side, there is also the filter icon to search by the name of the professional or the watershed they support.
Ready to find your Conservation Professional? Click the image below to get started.
More Information about the Iowa Conservation Professionals Map:
Who is included?
This map includes public-sector conservation professionals who are employed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, counties, cities, and various non-profits. It also includes conservation agronomists who are employed by Iowa Soybean Association and other agricultural cooperatives who work exclusively on water quality projects.
Additional conservation professionals such as USDA-NRCS employees are not currently included on the map. ISU Extension already maintains a contacts feature where local USDA service centers can be found, as well as other forestry, wildlife and drinking water professionals: https://naturalresources.extension.iastate.edu/contacts. You can find a list of Iowa Department of Agriculture Urban Conservationists at this link: https://iowaagriculture.gov/field-services-bureau/urban-conservation.
Why was this map created?
Conservation professionals help farmers and landowners protect and steward the soil, water, and habitat resources on their farm. Research from Iowa State University shows that the greatest indicator of farmer adoption of conservation practices is consistent interaction with a conservation professional (Morris and Arbuckle, 2021). In short, we want farmers and landowners to easily connect with conservation professionals so they can take the next step in their conservation journey.
The creation of this map was funded and led by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Technical assistance and map creation was led by the Iowa State University Geographic Information Systems. Sand County Foundation created an initial template of the map and also provided technical assistance on the design, layout and GIS components of the map. The Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance provided critical feedback and technical support. Continued funding for the map is provided by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, Iowa Soybean Association, and The Nature Conservancy.
Thank you to the sponsors who made this map possible.
Questions or comments on this map? Reach out to Catherine DeLong with ISU Extension: crdelong@iastate.edu.