Explore the Monitoring Resource Library
Monitoring Resources provide a network of information and tools to support many facets of ecological and biological monitoring. Check out the Monitoring Symposiums and Training Webinars below!
Monitoring Plans are due July 1, 2024
County contracts for the 2023-35 biennium will still require a monitoring plan, as monitoring is required in statute, but it will be up to the county to determine how.
SCC highly encourages using the Monitoring Guide as guidance for creating plans.
Learn about the monitoring plan process and review and get submission information here.
Please see a special message from SCC here.
Monitoring Plan Process and Review
Learn about the monitoring plan process and review and get submission information here.
How to Submit a Monitoring Plan?
To submit a monitoring plan, please pdf. your document and upload using this form. This form will accept documents up to 30MB. If the plan is larger than 30MB, please email Sarah Wilcox.
VSP Monitoring Resource Library
The VSP Monitoring Resource Library is an Airtable database of published research, articles, toolkits, and recommendations. Click the button below to open the database.
Please note: Resources listed in the Library of Resources are for informational purposes only. SCC does not endorse or sponsor the publishers, authors, or organizations that developed the content. The library or resource list intends to provide VSP stakeholders with examples, data, protocols, and documents that support monitoring activities within VSP.
Additional Monitoring Resources
NRCS has links to recorded webinars on topics relating to critical area functions and values, conservation practice mapping and monitoring, effectiveness monitoring, and the effects of climate change on agricultural activities and critical areas.
Content is primarily from NRCS’s Conservation Outcomes Webinar Series and USGS’s National Climate Adaptation Science Center.
This folder contains the monitoring project development guide, presentations, and webinars from VSP's Monitoring Symposiums.
Monitoring Symposiums & Training Webinars
April 30, 2024
April 30 Monitoring Plan Workshop
The Washington State Conservation Commission is hosting an in-person hybrid meeting to support counties with the development of their VSP monitoring plans. There is great work happening statewide and we want to bring the VSP community together to share monitoring resources and lessons learned and have a collaborative discussion on VSP monitoring. We encourage everyone to attend in person, but have a virtual option available.
To support a collaborative discussion, please come prepared to discuss the monitoring tools your county is considering using and copies of resources or examples to share with participants. This meeting is an opportunity for counties to collaborate with each other, with support from state partners, to develop a robust set of tools for monitoring critical areas statewide.
Meeting Goals:
• Clarify the monitoring plan expectations and review process.
• Support counties with the development of their VSP monitoring plans.
• Provide space for counties to share monitoring tools and resources with each other, establish a community of practice around monitoring, and foster connections in the VSP community.
This event took place in person in Ellensburg and also online.
December 12, 2023
VSP Monitoring Symposium: Identifying and Prioritizing Erosion Hot Spots in the Palouse - Dec. 2023
This webinar explored tools and approaches to identify and prioritize erosion hot spots on agricultural lands. Ryan Boylan, Research and Monitoring Coordinator at Palouse Conservation District, shared his work on this important topic. The second portion of this session provided updates on various projects, programs, and data sets that relate to VSP monitoring.
November 14, 2023
VSP Fall Monitoring Symposium: Assessing Wetland Functions and Values with Applications to the Voluntary Stewardship Program - Nov. 2023
This webinar on Nov. 14 was focused on assessing wetland functions and values, with an emphasis on applications to watershed-scale monitoring and VSP.
May 30, 2023
Info Session for Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) & Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) - May 2023
The webinar introduced and summarized lessons learned and best practices from multiple watershed scale monitoring efforts conducted by CEAP across the US; and approaches and frameworks used by the ACPF to assist conservation districts, NRCS staff, and other partners with planning, prioritization, monitoring, and outreach at the nexus of agriculture and ecosystems.
March 9, 2023
VSP Spring Monitoring Symposium - March 2023
The March 9 Monitoring Symposium contained wonderful presentations from WSDA about monitoring data and methods for surface water, crops, soil health, groundwater, and dairy nutrient management.
November 1, 2022
VSP Fall Monitoring Symposium - November 2022
VSP Monitoring Symposium - Fall 2022 (Nov 2022)
August 1, 2022
NRCS Information Session - August 2022
USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program: A history and future of developing, testing, and transferring plant science technologies to meet natural resource needs.
