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Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§2001 Congressional Findings

Title 16 › Chapter 40— SOIL AND WATER RESOURCES CONSERVATION › § 2001

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires the Department of Agriculture to keep and share up-to-date information, technical skills, and a system to help landowners and communities conserve and use soils, plants, forests, watersheds and flood control, water supply and disposal, animals and wildlife, recreation, community projects, and other related resources. Says demand on soil, water, and related resources is growing. To handle that, it calls for regular studies and inventories of resources and conservation needs, tests of how conservation methods work, reviews of alternative program approaches, and coordinated work across government borders and programs.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §2001

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Congress finds that:
(1)There is a growing demand on the soil, water, and related resources of the Nation to meet present and future needs.
(2)The Congress, in its concern for sustained use of the resource base of the United States, has ensured that the Department of Agriculture possesses information, technical expertise, and a delivery system for providing assistance to land users with respect to conservation and use of soils; plants; woodlands; watershed protection and flood prevention; the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water; animal husbandry; fish and wildlife management; recreation; community development; and related resource uses.
(3)Appraisal and inventory of resources, assessment and inventory of conservation needs, evaluation of the effects of conservation practices, and analyses of alternative approaches to existing conservation programs are basic to effective soil, water, and related natural resource conservation.
(4)Since individual and governmental decisions concerning soil and water resources often transcend administrative boundaries and affect other programs and decisions, a coordinated appraisal and program framework are essential.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical

Amendments

to this section. The

Amendments

by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2008—Par. (2). Pub. L. 110–246, § 2804(a)(1), substituted “base of the” for “base, of the”. Pars. (3), (4). Pub. L. 110–246, § 2804(a)(2), added par. (3), redesignated former par. (3) as (4), and struck out “Resource appraisal is basic to effective soil and water conservation.” before “Since individual”. 1994—Par. (2). Pub. L. 103–354 struck out “created the Soil Conservation Service” after “resource base,” and substituted “, has ensured that the Department of Agriculture” for “Department of Agriculture which” after “United States”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2008 AmendmentAmendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 8701 of Title 7, Agriculture.

Short Title

Pub. L. 95–192, § 1, Nov. 18, 1977, 91 Stat. 1407, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 2001

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60