Charging into the Future: The NRCS of the Future

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief Natural Resources Conservation Service at the 59th Annual Meeting of the National Association of Conservation Districts

Atlanta, GA
February 8, 2005


Thank you, Gary (Mast), for that kind introduction. It has been a pleasure working with you during your term as President of NACD. Gary, you are a good friend, or after your speech yesterday, perhaps I should say a good coach; and I will always remember our time together at this exciting time in the history of conservation.

I also look forward to working with Billy Wilson as he takes office as the next president of NACD. I know that Billy and I will work effectively together to continue the great progress of the past several years.

I’m happy to see Krysta Harden. Happy anniversary, Krysta. You have done an outstanding job in your first year as executive director of NACD.

Before I begin my remarks, I would like to give a brief commercial for the 70th anniversary of NRCS. We have been a partner in conservation since 1935, and NACD has been a major partner for most of that time. I look at this anniversary year as a good opportunity to celebrate the durable nature of the Conservation Partnership and to make farmers and ranchers and their city cousins more aware of the benefits of conservation on private lands.

I would like to premier for you a video regarding NRCS’s role in conservation. We will have copies of this video for any of you who would like to show it in local, state, or regional meetings.


Conservation Leadership

Krysta’s arrival at NACD last year and the passing of the torch from Gary to Billy this year are important leadership changes in the conservation partnership. But there are other leadership changes, both in and out of government that are important to the continued implementation of conservation.

Now, for those of you who didn’t make it to the inspirational session Sunday night, you missed a comparison of leadership change with crop rotation – a healthy practice for conservation and for organizations. That analogy really spoke to me.

New Secretary of Agriculture

Within USDA, we have a rotation of leadership at the top. Last month, Mike Johanns gave up being governor of Nebraska to become the new Secretary of Agriculture. Secretary Johanns is a friend of a strong agricultural economy and good conservation. He will be actively involved in creating the next farm bill.

Former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman provided strong leadership in trade, food security, and conservation. She led effective implementation of the 2002 farm bill and its portfolio of conservation programs. She went to bet to get you this year’s program dollars earlier. Conservation benefited greatly from her leadership, as I am sure it will benefit from the leadership of Secretary Johanns.

Developing Strong Leadership

There are other changes in the wind that will help develop strong leadership for the future, within NRCS and NACD and in the partnership as a whole.

– Partner Organization Diversity Awards

One key to effective local leadership is to have diversity all across and at all levels of the partnership. You all heard Gary speak to this issue in his keynote address. As you know, we have also been working closely with NACD and our other partner organizations for a year and a half now in a special effort to increase the diversity of, boards and committees and other leadership positions.

Each organization has come up with an annual diversity award to recognize the contributions of their members. That includes NACD, NASCA, NARC&DC, NCDEA and NRCS. The awards will be presented here at the NACD annual meeting. These awards will help stimulate both awareness of diversity issues and accomplishment within the partner organizations.

– Diversity Scholarships

Last year at the NACD annual meeting, I announced that NRCS was sponsoring two new scholarship programs – one for universities with high numbers of Asian American, Pacific Islander students, and one for students in natural resources disciplines at the Tribal colleges and universities.

I am happy to tell you this year that both programs are functioning. The Asian, Pacific Islander scholarship program is accepting applications for its second group of students, and the Tribal colleges and universities scholarship program is nearly ready to send out forms for its first year’s applicants.

Both of these new scholarship programs are similar to programs at the 1890 land grant colleges and the Hispanic-serving institutions.

New Areas of Cooperation between NRCS and NACD

The NACD leadership is working with us on a new Memorandum of Understanding that we hope will contain some new areas of cooperation between NRCS and NACD.

– Walk a Mile In My Boots

The first area of cooperation is the “Walk A Mile In My Boots” initiative. Once we iron out the details, NACD and NRCS intend to launch our own version of the “Walk a Mile in My Boots” program, an exchange between ranchers and farmers and government employees. The program already includes the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

NACD will assist in the program through a contribution agreement with NRCS. These exchanges will give producers and NRCS employees a way to learn more about each other’s responsibilities and daily challenges.

– Strategic Planning

The second new area of cooperation is in NRCS strategic planning. NRCS is launching an ambitious strategic planning process this year. Given the challenges ahead of us, we must have a vibrant strategic planning process.

As we wrap up farm bill implementation and farm bill rules, we need to approach the next farm bill with a new, vibrant strategic plan in place. I have asked Richard Coombe, our Regional Assistant Chief – East, and Kathy Gugulis, our Deputy Chief for Strategic Planning and Accountability, to head up an effort to create a new strategic planning process this year.

We are hopeful that NACD will assist us by helping bring in our partners to assure a vibrant, locally led process that will help build the conservation effort of the future.

New Regions – New Leaders

Last fall, we completed our reorganization at NRCS, which means a change in our regional structure and leadership. The six NRCS regions have been reduced to three: the West, Central, and East. The three Regional Assistant Chiefs have offices directly above mine at National Headquarters in Washington, DC. They have been visiting the States as quickly as they can, so I am sure many of you have already seen your State’s Regional Assistant Chief.

Sara Braasch is the new Regional Assistant Chief for the western States. Sara comes to us from the Idaho Rural Partnership, where she was Executive Director.

Merlin Bartz, a former legislator from Iowa, who was a special assistant in Under Secretary Mark Rey’s office, is the new Regional Assistant Chief for the central States.

Richard Coombe is the new Regional Assistant Chief for the Eastern States. Dick is a businessman and public servant from New York.

The new Regional Assistant Chiefs will be meeting with the NACD national board tomorrow.


Conservation on the Ground

NRCS and the conservation partners had many accomplishments in FY 2004 -- with a record investment in conservation during the year (nearly $2.8 billion), including several new conservation programs.

When I say ‘We,” I mean NRCS and the districts.

We provided conservation technical assistance. We applied conservation system plans on more than 27 million acres of crop and grazing lands. We developed and applied nearly 10,000 comprehensive nutrient management plans (up from just over 8,000 in 2003). We mapped soils or updating soils maps on 28 million acres (up from 22.5 million acres in 2003). We signed Nearly 48,000 EQIP contracts and more than 3,000 WHIP contracts.

We created or restored nearly 228,000 acres of wetlands. That is a lot of wetlands, but only 92 of our target. We need to do more if we are going to do our share in meeting the President’s target of creating or restoring 3 million acres of wetlands.

We closed nearly 750 WRP easements last year. Louisiana was the top state with 94 easements. We also approved the first two Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program projects -- one in Nebraska and one in Minnesota.

We also helped protect more than 550 ranches and farms through the FRPP program. We provided emergency watershed protection assistance in nearly 100 cases. And we helped fund more than 1,700 watershed protection and flood prevention projects. Our Earth Team volunteers donated nearly a million hours of their time.

Other accomplishments included: reaching out to be sure every farmer and rancher knew about farm bill programs and had an opportunity to participate, developing national and local priorities for conservation programs, reducing costs through program efficiencies, management, and automation, writing program rules based on thousands of comments from our conservation partners, and implementing Conservation Innovation Grants.

We successfully reorganized many parts of NRCS to provide even better support to the conservation efforts of America’s farmers and ranchers.


Rounding out the Conservation Portfolio

We added two new programs in 2004 to round out the conservation portfolio.

Conservation Security Program

The first was the Conservation Security Program. The first year of CSP was a great success! We enrolled producers in 18 watersheds in 22 States. We signed more than 2,000 contracts. This year, we will have more than 200 watersheds – enough to have at least one in every State and the Caribbean Basin.

CSP is a major change for all of us. It complements our other programs by filling the missing link of conservation for leading-edge conservationists. Concepts like the self-assessment process and management intensity will spread to other programs.

Grassland Reserve Program

We also implemented the Grassland Reserve Program. We released the interim final rule for the program last summer. Last month, we completed the first conservation easement in the Grassland Reserve Program,


Building Technical Support

We also worked hard last year to build up our capacity to provide technical support for conservation activities all across America.

Technical Service Providers

One thing we did was to make improvements to the Technical Service Provider process. The Technical Service Provider process gives us a way to provide the increased amount of service demanded by the 2002 farm bill, while keeping government small and keeping functions that are available commercially from becoming part of the Federal government. This is not just plain good management, but also very key during this time of fiscal austerity.

The Technical Service Provider process is actually strengthening the partnership between NRCS and conservation districts, States, professional associations, Tribes, and others who will be providing the service. We made adjustments to the rule last year to ensure that we would continue to build upon the partnership. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on November 29.

More than 2,200 TSPs have completed the certification process. We also have determined new not-to-exceed rates for TSPs, based on new data. The rate increased overall by about 20 percent. These rates are posted on the Web and being used today.

The TechReg site is a wonderful example of e-Government at its best. Through it, we have a great tool that service providers can use to apply for certification, NRCS can use in the certification process, and producers can use to locate providers.

Digitizing Soil Surveys

We provided nearly 340 new soil surveys in digital format and revised nearly 1,400 additional surveys in digital format.

Annual NRI

We continued to make progress in the transition to an annual National Resources Inventory.

Wetlands data

On Earth Day – one of my proudest moments as Chief -- the Secretary of Agriculture announced that the United States had achieved no net loss of wetlands due to agriculture. The data supporting that announcement came from the National Resources Inventory.

The President cited the same data in announcing his goal of restoring or improving 3 million acres of wetlands in the next five years.

National Technology Support Centers

In September, NRCS opened its new National Technology Support Centers and Remote Sensing Laboratories in Greensboro, NC; Fort Worth, TX; and Portland, OR. We had great opening ceremonies in each location. Local dignitaries, State conservationists, region assistant chiefs, other headquarters officials, and the local NRCS employees and conservation leaders attended.

The centers and labs will become our agency’s nucleus for developing innovative conservation technology for private lands as well as increasing the effectiveness of its technological legacy that has served the needs of farmers and ranchers for more than 70 years.

We created these centers with the primary goal of providing better technical support to our State-level conservation experts, so they can better serve our customers and partners.


Innovation

NRCS is announcing a number of initiatives this week. I would like to take a few minutes to tell you about them.

New CTA Program Policy

First of all, we are releasing a new comprehensive policy for operating the Conservation Technical Assistance Program (CTA). We’ve been working on this new policy for quite a while now, and it is ready to go. This policy will address the concerns raised yesterday by Chairman Goodlatte as well as others.

The new CTA Program policy establishes national priorities for the program. One of this year’s priorities is to help farmers and ranchers comply with environmental regulatory burdens. The other four priorities are the same as those already established for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program – air, water, soil, and habitat.

Measuring the CTA Program against established priorities will demonstrate how effective and efficient CTA is and how it contributes to the President’s Management Agenda. Having a clearly defined policy will provide direction to NRCS employees, partners, and others as t what CTA cam and cannot accomplish.

Additional EQIP Funds for High-Performing States

Second, we are awarding and additional $20 million in Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds to17 States for their high levels of performance in implementing the program.

Each year, NRCS has set aside a portion of the EQIP budget to offer its State offices and partners an incentive to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of EQIP in their States. Those States that invest their EQIP money most effectively receive additional funds to help even more farmers and ranchers.

The States receiving the EQIP performance award this year are Louisiana, Oklahoma, Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, South Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Utah, Montana, New Mexico,
Texas, Georgia, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Each will receive an additional $1 million or more. Congratulations on a job well done.

State-Level Conservation Innovation Grants

Third, we are adding more opportunities for Conservation Innovation Grants through State-level competitions in 12 States and the Pacific Basin. The State-level competitions are a pilot program under EQIP. The State component gives State conservationists a way to target CIG funds to individual producers, groups of producers and smaller organizations that submit proposals to address the priority natural resource concerns in the State.

State-level competitions will be available in California, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and the Pacific Basin.


What the Future Holds

The future of conservation continues to be bright. The overall investment in conservation continues to grow. This year, we have about $3.2 billion -- which nearly double the $1.7 investment in 2002. Yesterday, The White House released the President’s Budget Proposal for 2006. Total NRCS spending is proposed at $2.7 billion – less than $100 million down in total from the 2005 budget. This is a modest cut compared to many other spending areas.

While we have wake-up calls for watershed and RC&D, we also have increases for CTA—$37 million for AFO/CAFO, and $10 million to control invasive species.

Preparation for Next Farm Bill

Meanwhile, we have a lot of conservation to do this year, and in 2006 and 2007. But, it is not too early to start thinking about the 2007 farm bill.

– Finish Rulemaking

One thing we need to do to get ready for the next farm bill is to finish rulemaking for the present farm bill. Fortunately, we are almost done! And, what a job it has been. I thank NACD for its input into the rulemaking process.

We only have a few rules left to go: The Final Rule for the Conservation Security Program is almost ready for publication. The final rule for the Grassland Reserve Program and the rule for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program are also in clearance. And, we are still working on the rules for the Healthy Forest Reserve Program and for confidentiality.

– Streamline Programs

We also need to continue our efforts to streamline existing farm bill programs. We have worked hard to improve program management by eliminating duplication of effort and unnecessary steps in conservation programs, and we must continue to do so. We have also learned some things from the Conservation Security program that would help make other programs more efficient.

– Maximize Contracts

Another thing we need to do is get as much conservation done as we can this year. The performance of the conservation programs this year will be the basis for how Congress sees the future of conservation. How well are we serving the public? How well have we lived up to the confidence Congress placed in us by passing the 2002 farm bill?

So, we need to maximize our performance this year. We need to complete unfinished work from 2003 and 2004 – look at older contracts, and get them done. We need to maximize our effectiveness, sign the largest number of contracts, benefit as many producers as possible, and buy as much conservation as we can.

– Increase Accountability for CTA

As I have already mentioned, we need to demonstrate greater accountability for CTA. We need to help the livestock sector comply with the exploding burden of air and water regulations.

– Improve Strategic Planning

And we need to place more emphasis on strategic planning. I look forward to having the assistance of NACD in this effort.


Factors in Growth of Conservation

In conclusion, let me say that there are five factors that will help us maintain and build on the high levels we have attained under the 2002 farm bill:

The first is the leadership of our new Secretary of Agriculture. The second is innovation. The third is continued delivery of 2002 farm bill. The fourth is preparation for the next farm bill. And The fifth is communications and outreach.

The conservation partners have done an outstanding job of keeping farmers and ranchers informed of the opportunities presented by the 2002 farm bill. We need to continue that effort, and also do a better job of letting producers and others know the benefits produced by conservation on private lands.

I think we are in a good position to maintain the momentum of this Golden Age of Conservation through the remaining years of the current farm bill and into the next.

Thank you.