The BWSR Academy 2025 was held Oct. 21-23 at Cragun’s Conference Center, drawing over 470 registered participants across three days. A total of 120 trainers volunteered their time to deliver 63 training sessions from seven different tracks. As with last year, Wednesday reached the venue's daily capacity of 420 attendees and several sessions reached room capacity. At the end of each session, attendees were asked to complete an Action Plan to assist in implementing their new skills in their roles back home. Feedback from the online 2025 Academy evaluation included comments such as, “Great overall training. The sessions I attended were all very interesting!” and “Opportunity to network with others I wouldn’t normally interact with. Especially across diverse LGUs and agencies.” Planning for BWSR Academy 2026 is already underway. We look forward to seeing you there.
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Engineering Field Tools (EFT) – WASCOB Design Training
Water And Sediment Control Basin (WASCOB) design training will be held Dec. 10 in Alexandria. This training will cover the basics of a water and sediment control basin design using the NRCS Engineering Field Tools (EFT) software. This training is intended for individuals who have some experience with the WASCOB practice but need training on designing a WASCOB using EFT-TDT. Please note that you will need to install the software well in advance of the training.
For more information and a link to register, please visit the EFT WASCOB Design Training page.
Updated Training Resources
Over the past couple of months, we have been working to update our popular training series resources. Each page in the series serves as a collection of trainings on specific topics that can be found in Online Learning, AgLearn, Box, YouTube, or other places. Most recently, we’ve added Pasture and Hayland Planting and Filter Strip. You can see them all on the Technical Training Resources page.
Tyler's Three Things: Environmental Evaluation
The National Environmental Protection Act became law in 1970, requiring federal agencies to assess the impacts of projects on the environment.
NRCS uses the CPA-052 process and form for all programs (and partners) to evaluate the impacts of conservation planning.
Complete and detailed CPA-052 forms are a necessary part of Conservation Planning.
Want to learn more? Here are some training resources.
2025 Shared Training Calendar
An updated working version of the 2025 training calendar is now available. This 12-month view of training offerings is regularly updated and provides information about upcoming training events, including potential dates and locations. Please see the legend at the top and note that the further out a training is proposed, the more likely adjustments will need to be made. The dates, locations, and other details are always tentative until the event is posted on the Training Calendar.
Technical Training & Certification Program Trainings
December
- Nov. 17, Exploring Watershed Erosion and Precipitation Trends, MOSH, Online
- Nov. 18, MGWA Fall Conference, Minnesota Ground Water Association, Brooklyn Center
- Dec. 1-3, MASWCD Annual Convention, Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Bloomington
- Dec. 2-5, MN Watersheds Annual Conference, Minnesota Watersheds, Nisswa
- Dec. 8-10, AMC Annual Conference, Association of Minnesota Counties, Bloomington
- Through Dec. 9, Livestock 101: Livestock Production Fundamentals, Conservation Webinars, Online
- Through Dec. 16, Managing Forests as Habitat in a Changing World, USDA Northern Forests Climate Hub, Online
- Jan. 14-15 Soil Management Summit and DIRT Conference, UMN Extension, Fargo
- Jan. 28-29, MECA Annual Conference & Trade Show, Minnesota Erosion Control Association, Mankato
- Feb. 10-11, Soil Management Summit, University of Minnesota Extension, Dubuque, IA
Not all training takes place in a classroom. Check out the links below to learn at a time and place of your choosing.
We’ve also put together a searchable library of recorded modules, webinars, videos and other resources to help our staff and partners find professional development information on a variety of topics. You can visit BWSR's Online Learning page to find web based technical training resources sorted by category.
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Program Contacts
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