Backyard Conservation Program

A Tradition of Caring for our Natural Resources

Farmers, ranchers and many homeowners are making progress in natural resource protection. You can join their conservation tradition, right in your own backyard.

There are nearly 2 billion acres of land in the conterminous United States. About 70 percent of that land is privately owned and its care is in the hands of those who live and work on it. Most of that land, 1.4 billion acres, is managed by farmers and ranchers. More than 92 million acres of land - an area the size of California - is privately developed and much of it is tended by homeowners.

Farmers and ranchers use conservation plans to help them apply practices that meet their production objectives and protect soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources. You may want to develop a plan for your own backyard to help you apply conservation measures that fit your needs. Or maybe, for now, you'd like to try just a few of the activities listed here!

• Native Tree planting
• Terracing
• Backyard pond
• Wildlife habitat
• Composting
• Water conservation