New Staff available for Landowners, Farmers and Community Leaders in LA and Kern Counties. 

NRCS- Helping People Help the Land is the driving motto for the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) provides financial aid and technical support to landowners to address natural resource concerns and provide environmental benefits, such as improving water and air quality, reducing erosion, improving wildlife habitat, and lessening threat to human life and property. Locally based NRCS staff works directly with farmers, ranchers, and other types of land users to develop conservation plans and provide advice on the design, layout, construction, operation, and maintenance of all practices we recommend. We also provide access to engineers and other specialists, such as Foresters, wildlife biologists, agronomists, and range-land specialists. All land user participation is entirely voluntary. NRCS conducts soil surveys, conservation needs assessments, and a National Resource Inventory to provide a basis for the resource conservation planning activities and to provide an evaluation of the condition of private lands in the U.S.A.

We are proud to welcome Arnelis Crespo-Soto to the Lancaster NRCS office as the new District Conservationist. Arnelis hails from Puerto Rico and for the last 12 years has worked in various capacities for the NRCS, including stints in Iowa, Arizona, and Louisiana. Following Hurricane Maria in 2018, she served a two-month Emergency Wateshed Program detail in Puerto Rico. She also has had experience as an LGBT and Hispanic Emphasis Program Manager. She begins her tenure in Lancaster on March 14, 2021.

Other NRCS staff members are available at the Lancaster NRCS office to assist district landowners with their conservation needs. These include Area Rangeland Specialist Madeline Milner (661-483-3137) and Soil Conservationists Paul Nguyen (661-483-3135). Bonnie Nam is the Farm Bill Program Assistant (760-843-6882 x112). The NRCS field office is located at 44811 North Date Avenue, Suite G, Lancaster CA 93534.

These staff members will be under the supervision of 3 Resource Conservation Districts:  the Antelope Valley Resource Conservation District covering Los Angeles County, the Tehachapi Resource Conservation District covering western Kern County, and the Eastern Kern Resource Conservation District covering the eastern side of Kern County and the southern end of Tulare County. If you are not aware of the technical and financial assistance provided by these agencies, please call or email them.