Contributions to Conservation

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief Natural Resources Conservation Service
At the NRCS Honor Awards Ceremony, Washington, DC
June 13, 2003

Thank you, Karen [Karlinchak]. I am pleased and honored to be here with you today, as we take time – as we do every year – to recognize so many who have done so much to further the cause of conservation on America’s private lands.

This has been quite a year for conservation! The passage of the 2002 farm bill marked the beginning of what I like to call “The Next Golden Age of Conservation” – with an additional $18.5 billion for conservation on America’s non-federal agricultural lands.

NRCS and our partners have been busy the past year – getting the word out about the farm bill; updating our conservation practice standards; getting the word out about the farm bill to all producers, particularly those from traditionally underserved populations; writing the rules for farm bill programs; developing the Technical Service Provider process; and making more of our services available electronically.

At the same time, we have been going through many changes, both at NRCS and within USDA to improve our service delivery, manage our human capital, and strengthen accountability.

Exactly one month ago, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the farm bill. On that anniversary day, I said that we at NRCS share with America’s farmers and ranchers an idea of conservation, summed up by Aldo Leopold as “A state of harmony between men and land.”

“The land ethic,” according to Leopold, “simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” That shared vision of conservation spans NRCS and our partners, and it is part of everything we do, from civil rights to management activities to doing conservation on our own land to helping others undertake conservation activities.

You are all here today because of your contributions to conservation – whether directly or indirectly. Some of today’s awards reflect civil rights activities in a wide range of settings from Fort Worth to Fresno to Atlanta and Little Rock.

The excellence in conservation awards honor outstanding people from outside the NRCS – one who has done much to promote niche market agricultural practices and one who has provided outstanding leadership in research.

This year’s USDA Honor Award winners have done many great things: restoring rivers, building coalitions, remediating super fund sites, developing training programs that will help others reduce pollution, helping more rural communities meet their conservation and development goals, providing tools for expanding agriculture and agritourism, developing technical tools to target remedial measures, improving accounting processes and internal controls, reporting and analysis, helping USDA and NRCS better manage our human capital for the 21st century, and supporting implementation of the farm bill.

Together, this year’s awardees have accomplished many things in many disciplines. They are certainly worthy of the awards they will receive here this morning at the NRCS ceremony and later this afternoon at the USDA ceremony.

You know, President Teddy Roosevelt, who is one of my personal heroes, said, “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” Each of you has made a significant contribution to addressing the issue of conservation, and for that I thank you. And I congratulate you on the recognition you are receiving today.

Now, I’ll turn the microphone over to Karen, so we can get started.