LESA of the Future.

Computer-Assisted Land Evaluation System (CALES) and Web Soil Survey generate the information needed on the Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA) Forms AD-1006 (Farmland Conversion Impact Rating) and NRCS-CPA-106 (Farmland Conversion Impact Rating for Corridor Type Projects).  The current electronic computer program ,    “Farmland Conversion Impact Rating , ” stores the information on  Forms AD-1006 and NRCS-CPA-106.  FPPA requires Federal Agencies to provide Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) if federal funds will be used for proposed conversion of farmland to non-farmland uses.  The information on the forms includes  1) acreage of each type of important farmland,  2) percentage  of important farmland in jurisdiction to be converted, 3) percentage of farmland in jurisdiction with same or higher relative value, and 4) Relative Value of  the farmland.  CALES calculates the Relative Value.  Important farmland consists of prime, unique, statewide importance, and local importance.  LESA is often a community’s first step in local farmland protection efforts as it helps to identify the best soils for agricultural uses.  Important farmland is currently used in the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP).  The LESA Web site and the Web Soil Survey furnish the data to calculate numerical values to meet the FPPA and FRPP requirements and other environmental and conservation questions.  The information generated by these computer tools helps  ensure consistency within and between jurisdictions.