Conservation planning focuses on developing complete, comprehensive, conservation plans considering all of the resources (soil, water, air, plants, and animals) and the human concerns (economic and social).

The steps involved in the planning process include:

• Identify Problems and Opportunities
• Determine Objectives
• Inventory Resources
• Analyze Resource Data
• Formulate Alternatives
• Evaluate Alternatives
• Make Decisions
• Implement Plan
• Evaluate Plan

The conservation planning process helps the planner and cooperator accomplish the following:

• Help protect, conserve, and enhance natural resources
• Design alternatives that meet local resource quality criteria for identified resource issues
• Include the consideration of human concerns toward achieving sustainable agriculture
• Consider the effects of planned actions on interrelated geographical areas (i.e., looking off-site, beyond the planning unit boundary)
• Consider and explain the interaction between biological communities and society
• Focus on ecological principles
• Consider the effects and interactions of planned systems and practices on the natural resources, as well as economic and social considerations
• Assist with development of plans, regardless of scale, which will help achieve the client’s and society’s objectives
• Identify where knowledge, science, and technology need to be advanced
• Planning is complex and dynamic.  Successful planning requires not only a high level of knowledge, skills, and abilities on the part of the planner, but also the exercise of professional judgment.