Okie I think renting a dozer to do a little clearing would be a GREAT idea. It would give you a chance to put a few hours on it so you could evaluate your skill levels.
Also if you have quite a bit of under brush or the like, it can be a real problem getting an idea of "the lay of the land" with too much cover in place. Even if you end up hiring someone to build the pond, doing some clean up ahead would even help a professional do a better evaluation.
If you run across some nice trees, leave the nice ones till last to push them out. If you push them all out, then later your wife says "a shade tree sure would nice right here" and you pushed out a perfect one in the perfect spot............ it ain't coming back. So clean up, get a lay of the land, determine where the pond will be situated, before destroying something that you might have found useful. It can always be removed a little later. Stumps also make good fish habitat. Keep that in mind when burning brush piles.
As far as the NRCS, we have a great guy that has been at the job for years, knows his stuff, is very practical, and is easy to work with. Not everyone will be able to say that about their particular guy for their area. Get a feel for "how he is". As far as cost share, I NEVER do cost share. The guy is a public servant and what he does for me has been free. But when it comes to cost share on terraces, waterways or whatever, I personally choose to foot the bill myself and not have the government red tape and hassle. If my terrace is not perfect to suit them, they did not share in the cost of building it, so it can be what I like as long as it does not break any laws. That is a personal choice. Not what I am saying someone else should do. Just be aware government rarely provides anything without strings attached. I prefer to have it "all mine".
Those are my suggestions that I can think of for the moment. Get all the advice from good sources you can, make a decision what way to go, and do it. Most of all, have fun.
