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Toolkit/GIS Skills Checklist for Soil Conservationists and Planners

Last Modified: 07/24/2008

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Toolkit 2004 Resources and Websites (Bookmark)

Toolkit Preferences

  • Select practice narrative choice lists
  • GIS Tools - Assign default map location
  • Choice Lists - Add/Save Local Land Uses; Modify Programs choice list
  • Custom County Data Management - Select Field Office(s)
  • Reload Domain Data - How, When, Why?

Toolkit Customer Folder Tabs

  • Review the contents of the customer folder tabs
  • General Tab - Add associated customer; Change decision maker
  • Assistance Notes - Enter assistance notes; produce a report
  • Land Units - Distinguish mapped vs. unmapped land units
  • Practice Schedule - Review Conservation System Guides, Conservation Practice Standards List, narrative selection, selecting the program used to install the practice
  • Customer Files - Organization and content
  • Reporting - Link to PRS

Working with Existing Customer Folders

  • Check out/check in a customer folder
  • Review Folder Tab Toolbar (i.e. - Open, Redo Check Out, Unlock, etc.)
  • Review contents of customer folder tabs
  • Add an associated customer
  • Change primary decision maker
  • Deleting a Customer Folder from the NCPDB

Working with Customer Folders Created with Toolkit 4.1

  • Analyze the quality of the existing plan and shapefile data
  • Create screenshots and produce conservation plans to document a historic conservation plan and practice schedule
  • When to 1) Upload existing conservation plan shapefiles into the new Toolkit, 2) Create a new conservation plan layer and link it to existing practice schedule data, or 3) Create a new conservation plan layer and create new tabular data

Create a New Customer Folder

  • When to create a new Toolkit Folder
  • Working in SCIMS
  • Administrative County
  • Customer folder naming conventions
  • Assigning a unique Customer Folder ID
  • County ArcGIS Templates

Working with Geodata (C: drive and F: drive)

  • County ArcGIS Templates
  • Creating ArcMap Projects
  • Navigate and Save Work in ArcMap

ArcMap Navigation

  • ArcMap Table of Contents, Data Frames, Layers
  • Add/Remove layers
  • Export a shapefile
  • Base Layer
  • Toolkit Toolbar
  • Layer Properties

Conservation Plans in ArcMap

  • Select an existing plan - 'Cyber Farmer'
  • Linking Existing Tabular Units to a Map
  • Create New Planned Land Units (draw land units, copy land units, import CLUs)
  • Editing Planned Land Units - Split, Append, Merge
  • Attribute Land Units

Digitizing Skills

  • Start, save, and stop work in an edit session
  • Select tool, and can unselect features and set selectable layers
  • Copy/Paste features

Conservation Practices and ArcMap

  • Create a Practice Point, Line, and Polygon layer
  • Digitize new practices to be included in the Toolkit Practice Schedule
  • Edit digitized practices in each new layer
  • Attribute digitized conservation practices
  • View digitized practices in the Toolkit Practice Schedule and complete required data entry

Toolkit Planning Tools

  • Measure features
  • Graphic Tools - What If Analysis
  • Creating Soil Interpretative Layers and reports for selected land units (Produce maps for CRP/CREP enrolled acreage, Prime Farmland maps for FRPP, etc.)
  • Resource Inventory Layers
  • Build Your Own Layers - (i.e. - Grazing Units, CNMP setbacks for manure application)
  • Buffer Tool - (i.e. - Buffer a line, polygon; create buffers in a practice polygon layer; create buffers in a buffer layer; edit the planned land units using the split polygon tool to reflect buffers enrolled in CRP/CREP

Map Layout

  • Create a Conservation Plan Map
  • Create Soil Interpretative Maps
  • Layout Edit Tool Bar
  • Map Symbology
  • Map Scales
  • Saving, Exporting and Printing Maps
  • Labeling Tool

Creating the Conservation Plan Document

  • Linking a Conservation System Guide to a Land Unit
  • Selecting and scheduling conservation practices
  • Selecting/editing practice narratives
  • Scheduling the practice implementation dates
  • Recording the applied practice amounts and date
  • Conservation Practice Reporting Units
  • Selecting the appropriate program code
  • Selecting Land Units to include in the conservation plan
  • Using the Plan Wizard
  • Producing the conservation plan in Excel
  • Saving/formatting/editing the Excel plan
  • Removing a conservation plan from the NCPDB

Contracting Practices in Toolkit

  • Selecting conservation practices from the practice schedule to include in the contract
  • Using the Contract Wizard
  • Contract identifiers
  • Selecting a cost list
  • Contract Item Numbers
  • Selecting components
  • Reordering components
  • Saving the contracted items to upload into ProTracts
  • Producing the contract document (AD-1155) in Excel - How, when, why (Hint - only for non-NRCS programs)

Toolkit Reporting Tab

  • Business rules for reporting planning activities
  • Business rules for reporting applied practices
  • Relationship of Toolkit to PRS

Contacts

Patty Engler
Maryland Toolkit Coordinator
Email: patricia.engler@md.usda.gov
Phone: 410-489-7987

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