TY - JOUR T1 - Understanding the use of decision support tools by conservation professionals and their education and training needs: An application of the Reasoned Action Approach JF - Journal of Soil and Water Conservation SP - 387 LP - 399 DO - 10.2489/jswc.75.3.387 VL - 75 IS - 3 AU - P. Ranjan AU - L.F. Duriancik AU - D.N. Moriasi AU - D. Carlson AU - K. Anderson AU - L.S. Prokopy Y1 - 2020/05/01 UR - http://www.jswconline.org/content/75/3/387.abstract N2 - Decision support tools (DSTs) are a means to facilitate science-based conservation planning. Technical advancements in conservation science, the pragmatic needs of conservation planning, and government support for collaborative initiatives such as the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), have contributed to evaluation and development of both existing and new DSTs. Much of current scholarship on DSTs, however, focuses on their uptake by farmers and their crop advisors. Limited, to almost no, attention has been paid to the education and training needs of conservation agency staff—the primary users of these tools. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an online survey of staff in conservation agencies that are located in counties that either currently include or included a CEAP Watershed Assessment Study site. We found that agency staff did not use all DSTs, and not all DSTs we surveyed were equally popular with respect to their usage and awareness. The desired technical roles of DSTs included conservation targeting, watershed assessment and planning, and quantifying environmental and financial benefits of conservation practices. The desired stakeholder engagement roles of DSTs included facilitating engagement with watershed stakeholders, educating farmers about areas of concern in the watershed, and facilitating engagement with farmers one-on-one and in a group setting. By applying the Reasoned Action Approach framework, we found that DST users and nonusers are not only differently skilled, but also perceive barriers related to learning about and using DSTs differently. Taken together, our findings suggest the need for future research on establishing a deeper understanding of conservation agency staffs' skills, attitudes, perceived norms, behavioral limitations, and intentions toward using DSTs, in order to refine future training and education to better meet needs. ER -