Service contract: The term "service contract" means "a legally binding agreement between two parties, whereby one party agrees to perform one or more services, according to criteria spelled out in the contract, and the other party agrees to pay the first party for the service(s) rendered."

The service contract concept is a basic "building block" for the Farmland Stewardship Program. Service contracts commit parties to performance and specify sanctions -- or patience if there is a misstep. They have specificity and consequences for shortfalls. They are "enforceable" on a number of very specific levels.

The idea of a "service contract" developed over a long period of time, through working groups and workshops, with representatives from agencies at all levels of government providing input. It was widely embraced by all agency representatives that participated in the workshops used from 1996-1998 to develop the Farmland Stewardship concept, since every agency that has contracting authority can hire a "vendor" to perform specific "services." Also, any agency with contracting authority will readily be able to see that they can enter into a service contract with a private party, and thus leverage the federal funding available, providing the services are consistent with its mission and a budget item can be identified for funding.

Here are the benefits of a service contract:

1.              The contract form is very simple and familiar to any attorney and agency.

2.              It conforms to the KISS rule (Keep it Simple & Straight-forward)

3.              The contract provides complete flexibility for the contracting agency to enter into an agreement with a private landowner to obtain a specific "service" that fits within its mission and funding authority.

4.              The contract allows more than one agency to participate, through cooperative agreement. This allows the contract to be used as a "blending tool." 

5.              This also allows the contract to "fill in gaps" when existing conservation programs do not address a particular need on an individual parcel of property.

6.              It provides a precise mechanism through which existing conservation programs can be more precisely tailored to and targeted at the specific conservation needs and opportunities presented by individual parcels of property, because the "services" to be provided by each conservation program can be described in relationship to the property in question. 

7.              Everything about each individual "service" can be precisely defined: 
-- the purposes and objectives of each service
-- what the owner/operator will do
-- how the owner/operator will do it
-- when the owner/operator will do it
-- what standards or criteria must be met in the performance of each service
-- how performance will be measured
-- what criteria (or market prices) will be used for calculating payments
-- what type of reporting will be required
-- what monitoring will take place
-- how results will be evaluated
-- what steps will be taken if performance does not meet specific criteria
-- what "bonuses" can be offered if performance exceeds specific criteria

8.              It can be used as a "one stop" conservation contract to apply for and implement any type of conservation program on private lands. As a result, it offers a means of making existing programs more accessible to owners and operators.

9.              It can be used as a model by local governments to initiate contracts of their own to "buy services" from private owners/operators without tapping into any federal funds. 

10.          In short, if there is something society wants a private owner or operator to do, this form of contract offers a way to "hire" an owner/operator to do it, because the basic contract form can accommodate the criteria necessary to perform -- and measure the results derived from -- any service.