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The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers. Its name was changed in 1994 during the presidency of Bill Clinton to reflect its broader mission. It is a relatively small agency, currently comprising about 11,000 employees. Its mission is to improve, protect, and conserve natural resources on private lands through a cooperative partnership with state and local agencies. While its primary focus has been agricultural lands, it has made many technical contributions to soil surveying, classification and water quality improvement.〔U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Washington, DC. ("Soil Survey Programs." ) Accessed 2009-06-05.〕〔NRCS. ("National Conservation Practice Standards." ) National Handbook of Conservation Practices. Accessed 2009-06-05.〕 One example is the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), set up to quantify the benefits of agricultural conservation efforts promoted and supported by programs in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill). NRCS is the leading agency in this project. ==History== The agency was founded largely through the efforts of Hugh Hammond Bennett, a soil conservation pioneer who worked for the Department of Agriculture from 1903 to 1952. Bennett's motivation was based on his knowledge of the detrimental effects of soil erosion and the impacts on U.S lands〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Biography of Hugh Hammond Bennett )〕 that led to the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. On September 13, 1933, the Soil Erosion Service was formed in the Department of the Interior, with Bennett as chief. The service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture on March 23, 1935, and was shortly thereafter combined with other USDA units to form the Soil Conservation Service by the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1935.〔Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, P.L. 74-46, , , April 27, 1935.〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Records of the Natural Resources Conservation Service )〕 The Soil Conservation Service was in charge of 500 Civilian Conservation Corps camps between 1933 and 1942. The primary purpose of these camps was erosion control.〔(Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). ) ''U-S-History.com'', Online Highways LLC. Retrieved July 27, 2014.〕 Hugh Bennett continued as chief, a position he held until his retirement in 1952.〔 On October 20, 1994, the agency was renamed to the Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994.〔〔Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, , October 13, 1994.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Natural Resources Conservation Service」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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