If you are new to the ACPF, start with our online technical training materials, as they are a great way to get up to speed quickly. The ACPF National Hub regularly offers live online training workshops, so watch for upcoming sessions you can join. In the meantime, explore our self-paced online technical training course to build your skills and confidence with the tools. 

The self-paced course is publicly available and includes eight training modules, including an overview of the ACPF, DEM preparation, developing stream networks, field characterization, and running the conservation practice siting tools. You can move through the course at your own speed, choosing to explore specific sections or complete the entire training from start to finish. The course is intended for users with some GIS experience. It assumes you are comfortable working with ArcGIS toolboxes and tool dialogs, adjusting map settings, and moving or joining tables as part of your workflow.

Sign Up for Self-paced Training

The ACPF National Hub has conducted a series of trainings on applying ACPF outputs within a watershed management context. These sessions are tailored for NRCS staff, watershed practitioners, county conservation staff, watershed planners, and private consultants interested in leveraging the ACPF to enhance small watershed planning and implementation efforts. No GIS skills or prior ACPF experience are required to participate. 

• Joe Magner discusses the Beargrass Creek Watershed in Indiana
• Kevin Kuehner discusses the Root River Watershed Project in Minnesota
• Karl Gesch discusses Iowa and Wisconsin ACPF examples
• Sarah Kussow discusses Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River Basin
• Two Complete ACPF Watershed Applications Workshops

We also have a series of written 'Use Examples' that provide high-level examples of how the ACPF has been used in different contexts.

• ACPF Use Example: Polk County Saturated Buffer Project
• ACPF Use Example: Wilson Creek Watershed in Western Wisconsin
• ACPF Use Example: Beargrass Creek Watershed in Indiana
• ACPF Use Example: Root River Watershed in Southeast Minnesota
• ACPF Use Example: Buckeye Creek Watershed in Southeast Iowa
• ACPF Use Example: Stony Creek and Wolf Creek Watersheds

The trainings are designed to help participants learn:

• How to use ACPF results in a watershed planning context.
• How a watershed perspective impacts agricultural conservation work.
• What the ACPF is and how it compares to and interacts with other state-specific tools, applications, and models.
• How the ACPF improves the effectiveness of conservation work by allowing desktop work that informs field visits.
• How a field specialist works with a GIS specialist to generate meaningful and useful ACPF results.
• How to explain the assumptions behind each of the ACPF tools to farmers and other stakeholders.
• How to use ACPF results to engage stakeholders in conservation activities.

To support your learning, we offer video recordings of select presentations from the ACPF Watershed Applications Training. These Zoom-recorded sessions highlight various ways the ACPF has been applied across the region.

ACPF Training Support

There are several training resources for ACPF users. Explore the ACPF Resource Library, which includes a collection of use cases, information handouts, key literature, technical guides, training materials, and research resources. 

We also recommend reading the ACPF User’s Manual. The manual provides step-by-step guidance for applying the ACPF planning tools, including instructions for data input, maintenance, and file management. It also covers digital terrain model processing, stream delineation, and runoff risk assessment, along with guidance on executing the Python scripts used to identify potential conservation practice placement. 

We encourage you to join the ACPF Forum. This is a Google Group for ACPF users across the region. It's a space to share results, ask questions, and troubleshoot issues with fellow practitioners. Forum discussions have covered topics such as resolving technical errors, identifying false depressions, displaying flow direction, and more. It's also a great place to stay informed about ACPF updates.

You can also find out about ACPF updates through the ACPF Mailing List, where we email the latest ACPF news, events, and workshops.