Private Lands Conservation in the National Agenda

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service,
at the NRCS National Leadership Team Meeting
Arlington, VA
March 19, 2003

It is good to see you all again. Arlington isn’t quite as “magical” as Orlando, but we will make do. If you aren’t already convinced that these are exciting times for conservation, you will be by the end of the day. Conservation is an important part of the President’s vision for America and that of the Secretary and the Department.

We are going to hear from Under Secretary Mark Rey and Deputy under Secretary Mack Gray this morning. We will be spending the lunch hour with Chuck Conner, Special Assistant to President Bush, talking about the role of the State Conservationists in the President’s Conservation Agenda, The President’s Management Agenda and other matters. And, this afternoon Secretary Veneman will be here to talk to you about conservation and management issues.

This impressive line-up of administration officials is just one indication of how important a role you all have in taking conservation and government service to new levels in the coming months and years.

We will also be taking up several issues that have been occupying your time in recent months or will be demanding your attention in coming months.

Before I get into those, let me recount some of the internal announcements of just the past few weeks.

1. Cancellation of the moratorium on employment and major expenditures effective March 19, 2003.

2. Personnel changes.

Selections—
-- Taylor Oldroyd will be joining my staff to work with Communications on marketing efforts.
-- Dave Gagner will also be joining my staff to provide outreach to wildlife groups.
-- Diane Hawks has already joined by staff to provide outreach to the agriculture community.
-- Jose Acevedo will be Deputy Chief for Programs, as soon as USDA approves.

Retirements in the National Headquarters —
-- Lee Bensey, Director, Watersheds and Wetlands Division. Harry Slawter is Acting Director.
-- Mark Berkland, Director, Conservation Operations Division. Charles Whitmore is Acting Director.
-- Joan Comanor. Director, Resource Conservation and Community Development Division. Anne Dubey is Acting Director.
-- Berman Hudson, Director, Soil Survey Division, has announced that he will retire in April.

State Conservationist Positions—
-- I will be making a selection on Ken Kaneshiro’s replacement in Hawaii very soon now.
-- Human Resources is preparing the panel for Nick Pearson’s replacement in Nevada.

3. The streamlining and cost saving initiative letter dated March 17 to Regional Conservationists and the Chief’s Advisory Committee, with work to be completed by September 1, 2003. Copies of the letter were sent to State Conservationists and Division Directors and above.

4. Special thanks to the National Headquarters staff for delivery of programs and services despite the office disruption and closures caused by the pigeon problem in the South Building.

5. Recognition last Sunday from the American Society for Public Administration for our efforts for our accountability systems, including TCAS and PRMS.

Now, as to today’s agenda. Tom Weber will talk about 2003 allocations. This is a good time for a candid discussion of dollar allocations and how we can move forward, how to implement the programs, how we can manage the CTA account, how I can walk the fine line between OMB and the Congress.

Jose Acevedo and Carole Jett will give a program update. After lunch, Scott Charbo, USDA’s Chief information Officer, will talk about IT convergence. Rick Swenson and the TSP Work Group will discuss the latest in Technical Service Provider implementation. The Technical Service Provider process has been up and running for three weeks. Now is the time to look at what we did right, what we did wrong, what you are hearing from our stakeholders, and what we need to do next. We need to hear a variety of views on how the Technical Service Provider process is working.

We will also talk about field office consolidation and competitive sourcing, two issues of great concern to all of us.

For the most part, these agenda items have one thing in common – change. I know change is difficult. It is hard enough to endure change when it is thrust upon you. Sometimes you just have to buckle down and get through it by working together.

But many of today’s changes are different. They do not come from outside, and many of them are at least partially elective.

There is no external requirement to do more conservation on private lands. The need comes from the desires of the American people, expressed to the Congress and the Administration.
The need comes from our historic commitment to maintaining and improving natural resources.
The need comes from our own heartfelt belief in conservation.

There is no external requirement to manage government more effectively and efficiently. The need comes from sound principles of government – taking less from people in the form of taxes and doing the most we can with what we do take. There are inefficiencies built into any bureaucracy, and always will be. But, with the skills we have as public servants, today and every day are good times to work toward more effective and efficient government.

But change is still difficult. And, we have to be able to talk openly about the difficulties, the strategies, and the prospects for success. I know there are aspects of many of the items on today’s agenda that trouble many of you. If you have concerns, I want you to voice them freely.
I am confident that we can use our collective brain power to make things work better.

Some of the items on today’s agenda – notably competitive sourcing and office consolidation are of great concern to our employees. We must commit ourselves to representing our employees effectively, and fairly and be compassionate toward their needs.

I am sensitive to the concerns of our employees with regard to these issues. But I have not effectively shared my feelings with you or with all of our employees. I need your help in exploring ways to address employee concerns more fully.

We all value the contributions of every office and every employee. We need to concentrate on conducting office consolidation in a way that improves customer service, rather than diminishing it. And we need to act in ways that minimize disruption in the lives of our employees.

Similarly, we must conduct competitive sourcing in ways that provide opportunities for our valued employees to continue serving the public as part of NRCS, or continue their careers in another context, whichever they desire. We need to take as much pain out of the competitive sourcing process as we can.

I need your help in figuring out how to do this. As I ask for that help, I am reminded of an acceptance speech I heard at the ceremony where we received the award for our accountability system. The speaker told us the most important part of public service is retain a spirit of “unwarranted optimism.” We must capture that feeling of “unwarranted optimism” as we approach these changes.

Let’s get started.