What is NRI?

• How Reliable is the Database?
• Database Characteristics
• How Do I Get NRI Data?

Background
The National Resources Inventory (NRI) is a statistically-based survey that has been designed and implemented using scientific principles to assess conditions and trends of soil, water, and related resources on non-Federal lands in the United States. The NRI is conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in cooperation with the Iowa State University Statistical Laboratory. The NRI provides scientifically valid, timely, and relevant information that is used to formulate effective agricultural and environmental policies and legislation, implement resource conservation programs, and enhance the public's understanding of natural resources and environmental conditions.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service
The NRCS is an agency of the USDA. Formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), its mission is "to provide leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, improve, and sustain our natural resources and the environment." The SCS was established through the Soil Conservation Act of 1935, after the Dust Bowl catastrophe. This legislation was based, in part, upon results from the 1934 National Erosion Reconnaissance Survey, which was the first formal study of erosion conducted in the Nation.

Hugh Hammond Bennett, the agency founder and first administrator, convinced the U.S. Congress that soil erosion was a national menace and that a permanent agency within USDA was needed to call landowners' attention to their land stewardship opportunities and responsibilities. Today, nearly than 65 years later, NRCS still champions the vitality of the land as USDA's lead conservation agency. No other Federal agency speaks for the health of America's private land.

Information and knowledge about natural resources in the United States are critical for sustaining conservation and agriculture, and for preserving the Nation's well-being. As part of its mission, NRCS collects large quantities of data, both at the field level and at larger scales. Data are collected at the field and farm level by thousands of NRCS employees who are highly skilled in many scientific and technical disciplines, including soil science, forestry, agronomy, and engineering. These specialists provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers in the development of conservation systems that are uniquely tailored to their land and their individual way of doing business. Assistance also is provided to rural and urban communities to reduce erosion, conserve and protect water, and solve other resource problems.

Legislation has mandated that NRCS collect natural resources data. The Rural Development Act of 1972, the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, and other supporting acts direct NRCS to assess the status, condition, and trends of soil, water, and related resources on the Nation's non-Federal lands at intervals of 5 years or less. To help accomplish this assessment, the NRI was developed to augment NRCS's soil survey program in providing critical information regarding natural resources.

The National Resources Inventory
The NRI is a compilation of natural resource information on non-Federal land in the United States - nearly 75 percent of the total land area. Conducted by NRCS, this inventory captures data on land cover and use, soil erosion, prime farmland, wetlands, habitat diversity, selected conservation practices, and related resource attributes at more than 800,000 scientifically selected sample sites. The 1997 NRI covers all 50 States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and some Pacific Basin locations.

The NRI provides a record of trends in the Nation's resources over time and documents conservation accomplishments as well. At each sample point, information is available for 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997, so that trends and changes in land use and resource characteristics over a 15-year time period can be examined and analyzed. Because the NRI is based on recognized statistical sampling methods and is scientifically designed and executed, NRI data are valuable in examining issues at National, regional, and State levels.

Purpose and Use
The NRI is conducted to obtain scientifically valid, timely, and relevant data on natural resources and environmental conditions. Information derived from the NRI is used by natural resource managers; policy makers and analysts; consultants; the media; other Federal agencies; State governments; universities; environmental, commodity, and farm groups; and the public. These constituents use NRI information to formulate effective public policies, fashion agricultural and natural resources legislation, develop State and National conservation programs, allocate USDA financial and technical assistance in addressing natural
resource concerns, and enhance the public's understanding of natural resources and environmental issues.

Seven Decades of Resources Inventories

• Hugh Hammond Bennett directed the pioneer National Erosion
  Reconnaissance Survey of 1934. This survey, the first well-documented nationwide resources inventory ever conducted, estimated the degree of erosion caused by wind and water on the total land area of the United States.
  Six months after its completion, Congress passed the Soil Conservation Act of 1935, which established the SCS.
  
• By the early 1940s, SCS realized that natural resources information was required to develop programs and set priorities for various conservation needs throughout the country. After assembling and analyzing the available resources data, SCS published in 1945 a report on U.S. soil and water conservation needs, which became the Conservation Needs Inventory (CNI) and prepared the ground for future inventories.
  
• In 1956, SCS led a cooperative endeavor to maintain and update the CNI.  Seven other USDA agencies assisted, as they had a vested interest in land use, soil and water conservation, and the management of land resources.
  Data were collected from sample areas for the 1958 CNI. It was the first time that SCS used statistical sampling to collect natural resource inventory data and the first time since 1934 that new data were actually collected in the field.
  
• The 1967 CNI was an update of the 1958 CNI, but featured data collection at specific sample points within randomized sample units. Field work proved to be less costly for this method, and the data collected were easier to process. By the mid-1970s, SCS had developed a way to link resources inventory data to the soils data collected by the agency's nationwide soil mapping program, the National Cooperative Soil Survey.
  
• The Rural Development Act of 1972 set guidelines for the present inventory program. The Act's language clearly specified that information on urban spread and rural economic survival, prime farmland, flood plains, and conservation practices was needed to devise community guidance for balanced rural-urban growth. The Act also shortened the interval between natural resources inventories from 10 years to 5 years.
  
• At the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, SCS undertook the 1975 Potential Cropland Study when it became evident that some of the Nation's best cropland was being converted for urban development.  The study identified the amount, location, and characteristics of land that could easily be converted to cropland to support worldwide demand for agricultural products.
  
• The 1977 NRI gathered data on soil erosion, wetlands, prime farmland, and flood-prone areas, as well as soil capability, land use, and conservation treatment needs. The 1977 NRI used nearly 70,000 sample areas and was statistically reliable to the State level.
  
• The 1982 NRI was more comprehensive than the 1977 NRI with respect to the kinds of data gathered and the number of sample areas covered. Its findings included the extent and distribution of highly erodible croplands throughout the Nation. It laid the groundwork for the development of the Conservation Reserve Program and the Conservation Compliance, Sodbuster, and Swampbuster conservation provisions of the Food Security
  Act of 1985.
  
• The 1987 NRI initiated changes in how the data were gathered and
  analyzed. Previously, SCS field office employees collected data onsite and manually entered the data onto worksheets. Almost 30 percent of the 1987 sample data were collected using remote sensing, and SCS used trained teams at the State and sub-State levels to collect and enter the data into computers. New software allowed SCS state offices to quickly deliver NRI data to the public.
  
• The 1992 NRI relied heavily on remote sensing and computer-based technologies. Aerial photography was used, where available, to collect the new data, verify the 1982 and 1987 data, and fill in missing data for those years. The 1982 and 1987 databases were updated to current standards of technology, enabling SCS to establish and track consistent trends in the Nation's natural resource use and conditions over 10 years.
  From 1995 to date, NRCS has conducted special small-scale inventories each year, that investigate topical matters of concern and to supplement the major NRI. Data from these reports are statistically reliable for national and some regional analyses.
  

Meeting Future Needs for Information
The NRI already inventories multiple resources and is continually called upon to help analyze a broader spectrum of natural resource issues. The NRI program is continuing to evolve, as cost-effective methods are developed to collect more timely and relevant information that addresses emerging agri-environmental issues. New inventory approaches will build upon past experiences and will incorporate new tools, methodologies, and technologies. Efforts are underway to implement a continuous inventory process, develop a multi-agency integrated inventory approach, incorporate various assessment tools for resource health, and more fully utilize inventory data for modeling and policy analysis. In the future, the NRI will be a nimble, more flexible instrument for monitoring the status of natural resources on a continuous basis.