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Programs that seek to prevent the conversion of productive agricultural land to non-agricultural purposes and defend it from alternative development, primarily through the designation of agricultural land within regional comprehensive land use plans and local zoning stipulations. Also included are programs that purchase of development rights to privately owned farmland as a means of protecting existing properties in sufficient quantities to assure long-term agricultural viability. Permanent covenants and restrictions prevent development or other non-agricultural uses of the property and farm owners, who generally participate on a voluntary basis, retain title to their land. Agricultural land is land used primarily for the production of plant or animal crops, including arable agriculture, dairying, pasturage, apiaries, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, animal husbandry and the necessary lands and structures needed for packing, processing, treating, or storing the produce.

Programs that are responsible for managing the resources which occur on or in conjunction with forest lands and for protecting forests from insects, disease, fire, erosion, air pollution and other destructive forces. Services may include planning and prescribing forest uses and practices; directing land surveys, road construction and the planting and harvesting of trees; working cooperatively with public land management agencies, states and owners of private forest lands to provide more scientific management of forest resources; and ensuring that timber harvesting methods protect the lands and streams, assure rapid renewal of the forest, provide food and cover for wildlife and fish, and have minimum impact on scenic and recreational values.

Programs that preserve and protect endangered land resources from indiscriminate development, destruction or decay and which manage the utilization of renewable and nonrenewable resources to ensure ongoing availability. Included are conservation of forests, rangeland vegetation, deserts, wild and scenic rivers and other wilderness areas and open land spaces; and reestablishment of areas that have been devastated by strip mining or other destructive activities.

Programs that are responsible for working with landowners and other land users and developers to ensure that land utilization practices protect farmlands, forests and open spaces, many of which are being converted to urban uses, from unnecessary erosion and sedimentation or other destruction. Services may include development of soil and land capability studies and maps to ascertain appropriate uses for specific tracts of land; development of conservation plans for specific areas which include measures for protecting and preserving waterways and vegetation, which provide for flood protection, and which show the location of conservation devices such as dikes, water diversions, terraces, dams, reservoirs, water conduits, grassed waterways and plantings of grass, trees and shrubs; and consultation and technical assistance for individuals, particularly farmers, who want to ensure that their lands are adequately protected.

Programs that are responsible for administering the federal Wilderness Act which authorizes the acquisition, preservation and management of designated "wilderness areas" through a National Wilderness Preservation System which protects those lands in a manner that leaves them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness. Wilderness areas are defined as "areas where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain". Also included are other public and private programs that preserve and protect wilderness area.